Apples

 Today was a great day.  Boo, Amma and I got to go apple picking with Lissa and the Piglet!  (Gak was going to join us, but he was having an out of sorts say and didn't really feel up for company... which I totally understand.)

Anyhow, I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.  We had a lot of fun picking apples and just hanging out and catching up.  Boo and Piglet had fun playing together, as they usually do.  Mom, Lissa and I got to catch up.  And there will be much applesauce to be enjoyed by all for a long time.  We went to Freecon Farms right outside of Boyertown.  It's a nice easy drive for us, and not too bad of a drive for Lissa.  Hopefully we'll be getting together again sooner as opposed to later.  Living 2 hours or so apart is tough for getting together, but it is always so worth it when we do.

Crafty Girl

Well, looks like September is going to be a sparsely written month.  Anyhow, I've rounded up pictures of most of my crochet projects over the last few months.  There are a few that are in the works and a few more that I haven't photographed and have already gifted...  Anyhow, in no real order....

Here is the second pair of socks I made this summer.  I don't have pictures of the first ones.  The other pattern was nice, but I'm not sure I'll make it again, they get a little sloppy around the ankles when you wear them.  This pattern is an adaptation of a "basic sock pattern" that I've done before.  But, instead of all single crochets, I decided to use a "crunch stitch" pattern of alternating single and double crochets.  I love the texture it creates, even if figuring out the heel gusset was a little challenging.  Of course, I also love the purple color.

This is a ripple wave blanket I've been working on for the better part of a year now.  It's mostly a stash buster using yarn purchased for two other projects that I either chose other yarn for or scrapped entirely.  This is only part of it.  I'm not sure if I'm crocheting in lengthwise or width-wise.  It all depends on how much yarn I have... Either way, it'll be warm and snuggly when I finish it.  It was originally going to be for some friends, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be mine instead.  (I found a different pattern I want to make my friends... and since it's a surprise it doesn't matter what the finished blanket is, so long as I think they'll like it...)

These two projects also use stash yarn.   The top one is a "chain loop scarf" that someone posted on G+ and I figured I wanted to play with the pattern  It took almost an entire skein of Deborah Norville Serenity Bulky.  It's long enough to double up and be warm and snuggly.  It looks a little silly single.  I'm not sure if I'm keeping it or gifting it.  The bottom one is an octagon blanket that I started with what was left of the first skein.  There's another skein and a half in there and I've got another skein and a half to go.  Again, not sure who this is for, but I have some ideas.

This is the round blankie that I'm making for my cousins Rae and Kami.  Rae is expecting a baby boy around Christmas time.  This is the second blanket I've made with this pattern.  I really enjoy it, but since it uses sport weight yarn and a small hook, the outer rounds take forever.  This one is made from Knit Picks Brava in grass, the first one I made this spring for the baby of a friend of Gak's was in peapod, a much brighter green.  I think this one looks like a lily pad, which is part of the point, since Kami loves frogs.

Here are two shrugs that I've made.  The bottom one I made this spring.  It's a stitch pattern I found on the Lion Brand website and fell in love with a while ago, but didn't have anything to make with it.  The yarn is a fingering weight or so 100% cotton yarn from Katia.  It's quite yummy and the long color repeats give very nice stripes.  This one is a little shorter.
The top one I just finished.  It's for a September CAL hosted on Google+.  I kinda got roped into it when I was admiring someone else's progress.  This is another stash buster.  The original pattern called for fingering weight and to be a stole (hence the pattern name of "Mist Stole").  I don't wear wraps, but I do like shrugs.  So, I found some sport-ish weight yarn in my stash that is a riot of rainbow colors.  I think it looks like someone spilled a bag of Spree or M&Ms.  It worked up nice and quick.  The yarn is a cotton/wool blend and is soft and has a little bit of spring to it.  The sleeves come just to my elbows and is a wonderful length.

Here is a circle scarf that I did back in July.  I used Knit Picks Chroma fingering in the Galapagos colorway. It's quite beautiful and was a joy to make.  Unfortunately, the yarn is 100% wool and while nice on the hands to work with, just made me itch when I tried to wear it.  Therefore, I gifted it to Mary.  I made one using Knit Picks Comfy in a bright burgandy in the fingering weight for me.  It's really cool all in one color and I can't wait to wear it.  I have decided I really enjoy scarves and shrugs at work because they can dress up a Tee or a tank or any shirt and add just a smidge of warmth.

Anyhow, that's all the crafty girl photos I can find.  I need to get a picture of yesterday's project.  There's a new comic and gaming store down near work that just opened up.  So, for Gaks' birthday (which is tomorrow!) we went down there and I got him a new Warhammer 40K model.  I managed to get it assembled and painted yesterday and last night.  It looks pretty good.  It's not the best paint job ever, but it is good enough for a first attempt.   Thankfully Necrons are mostly black with a bit of bright green.

Anyhow, I've got off today and the boy-o and I are going to the Zoo with Amma this afternoon after we drop Gak off at work.  I promise to update the random adventures we've had soon.  And hopefully October will be a bit better for updates...

Peace to all and may you be able to indulge your crafty side.

Ack!

Ack!  Where has the week gone?  It's Wednesday already and I have no idea where the week has gone.
Oh, that's right, I've been struck by the first head cold of the season... and hopefully my only one.  Thanks Boo!  I really do love you for this, really.  (Boo was sniffly all weekend, and still is a bit, and I just thought it was seasonal allergy type sniffles.  Nope, Gak and I are both hit with varying degrees of head cold...)

OK, so the important stuff all happened this weekend.

Saturday morning we went to bowling, only to find out that bumper league isn't starting until the end of the month.  That's OK, we got to hang out with the big kids and watch them bowl.  Boo and I also bowled one game.  I got a 134, but that was mostly dumb luck and slightly assisted by bumpers.  (Most of my spares and one of my two strikes were legit, most of the time if I bounced off the bumper I missed anyhow...)  Boo managed a 71.  According to him, he won because 7 is bigger than 1... Guess we have to work on math a bit...
After bowling was lunch and then home for nap time.  After nap time it was time to pick up Daddy and we went to BJ's to pick up some drinks and stuff for the picnic Sunday and some stuff for the house.  Then it was home for dinner and Dr. Who.  All I have to say is: Dinosaurs!  On a spaceship!  Great episode.

Sunday was filled with all kinds of errands and running around.  There was breakfast to be eaten, groceries to be shopped for and laundry to be done.  Then there was some other odd and end things that needed doing all in getting ready for the picnic.

The Girl Scout picnic went great.  I made up 20 folders with registration information in i, I came home with three, and there were a few girls missing that I know will be coming.  So, yeah, it looks like 17 or so will actually be in my troop.  Unfortunately, I didn't get as much time talking with the girls as I'd hoped, but they all had plenty of time to hang out and play at the playground together and get to know each other.  Several already know one or more girls in the troop, but this way they got a chance to hang with everyone without too much leader interference, which is important.  I've got lots of parents ready and willing to help, I just need to tell them what I need.  I can do that.

This week has been kinda ugh.  That's the best way I can put it.  I started feeling icky Monday afternoon and by yesterday morning I was in full fledged ick mode.  Today was a bit better, but I didn't feel up to riding my bike this afternoon, which really stinks.  The weather has been so beautiful this week that it would be perfect for riding.  Oh well, maybe Friday.

Tomorrow is my company picnic and Boo's school pictures.  Oh boy!  It's also my first leader meeting of the year.  Ugh.  I have a love/hate relationship with them.  Love them because I'm actually involved with Scouts, hate them because... well... I've attended less painful meetings at work.  And most of those are pretty painful.  Hopefully I won't fall asleep or anything silly.

This weekend is going to be a good one.  I actually get to see three friends of mine from college who I haven't seen in ages.  And we're going to AC overnight.  Yep, I'm going away overnight again without my boy-o.  Or his daddy.  (Gak and I have got to get an overnight away just the two of us, we're trying to make it happen in November...)

I know, I know, I promise (or maybe that's threatened) a crafty girl post a while back.  I haven't sorted through the photos and I haven't taken photos of a lot of things... so it'll have to wait.  That and I can't seem to stop starting new things... I just started yet another project tonight.  At least that one should be quick and easy.  And one of my other projects should be wrapped up in another 10 rounds or so... but of course, that means each round will take longer than the last as it keeps getting bigger.  Oh well.  At least I have plenty to keep my occupied!

I'm off to stand in the shower and dope myself into a Benedryl induced haze...

Peace to all and may your sinuses be clear and your weeks good.

There and Back Again, but Not as Exciting

Ok, Ok, so it's been more than a week, almost two since I last posted.  When last I updated I was about to head out on my first business trip in just about 3 years.  I was both looking forward to it and dreading it for several reasons.

I wasn't dreading it because I was dreading leaving my son home alone with his daddy for a couple of days.  Leaving Boo with his daddy is never, ever the problem.  I'm so thankful to have a partner in this who is just as capable as I am at this whole parenting gig.  Actually, I don't think we'd have a kiddo if I didn't think Gak would be the awesome daddy he is.  This whole parenting thing isn't one I'd want to do alone if I didn't have to, and well, I don't have to.  I've got an amazing hubby.

Sorry, not sure where that bit of ramble came from... maybe I've been reading too many "mommie's rock, daddies suck" kind of articles.  That's far from the truth in my corner of the world.  Just about all the dads I know (there will always be exceptions to every rule) take parenting just as seriously and work just as hard at it as the moms... sometimes more so.

No, I was looking forward to it because it meant I was going to be out of the office.  It meant I was going to be able to focus on one problem, and one problem only, for the entire day.  It meant I was finally going to meet with people face to face that I'd been talking over the phone with for almost 12 years now.  Guiltily, it also meant I was going to have two whole evenings of not having to be Momma.  Now, don't get me wrong, being Momma is the best title in the world to me, but there are days when it is nice to just be Addey.  When I don't have to be employee Addey, or wife Addey or Momma Addey.  When I can go out to eat and not worry about wrangling a kiddo into his seat every 30 seconds or trying to get a little elbow room at the table or all the other fun adventures of eating out with a four-year-old.  When I can watch what I want on TV or not and not feel guilty about ignoring the world and playing with yarn.  Everyone needs some moments like that, kids or not.

I was also dreading it because the work I was heading out to do isn't fun.  It has to do with state regulations and reporting and well... this state is just plain wacky and very painful when it comes to that.  Much more painful than just about any other state out there that I can think of.  I was also dreading it a bit because I was only half looking forward to the site visit I had planned for the drive home.  I was only half looking forward to driving 3/4 of the way across the state and back.  (It can be a nice drive, but you can also get stuck on some of these roads that turn it from an enjoyable drive to slow moving torture...)  I was also not really looking forward to Velcro-boy over the next couple of days after I got home.  I get attacked by Velcro-boy often enough when he's had a full week of full-day daycare or Wednesday evenings after Girl Scouts start up that I knew being gone two whole nights would mean I'd have my arms full of a boy-o who didn't want to leave his Momma's sight for a couple of days.

The trip went well over all.  The drive on Tuesday got maddeningly slow only in one or two places.  The work Wednesday was long, mentally rough and time consuming.  I don't want to think about how long it would have taken me if I'd tried to do it remotely over a modem.  It wasn't difficult, but it involves a lot of data entry and a bit of math.  And when you're dealing with 10 sets of reports, it just takes time, pure and simple.  The lunch we had planned with two other sites nearby (who use our software and are all friends) didn't happen because of various other things coming up.  I did have a nice lunch with the guy at the site I was at.
But, I'm also very glad that I did make the site visit I was half dreading on the way home.  I was just wanting to pop in, say hi, just sort of check in for a few and be on my way.  I was figuring I'd be there an hour tops.  I was there almost two whole hours!  It was all very good conversation and let me bring a lot of good information about the plant and happenings to the office.  They were glad I stopped in and gave me lots of information to take back with me and I was able to answer a couple of questions.  So, yeah, I'm glad I stopped, even if it meant I put in a 12 hour day all told.  (4 hours at the site I was working at, 2 hours at the other site and about 6 hours driving time all told with stops for food and gas...)

So, the end of last week was fairly productive.
I wish I could say the same about this week.  My low level exhaustion has dropped my energy level from about a normal 4 out of 10 to about a 3 out of 10 I think this week.  And actually, it's not so much my raw energy level that's been the problem, but the lack of focus that goes along with it.  My mind has been all over the place other than on what I'm supposed to be working on.  I've got to fix that today and salvage something good this week!

But that's all work.  I'll tell you, getting home last Thursday was nice.  Boo and Gak were over at Kat's house because I wasn't going to get home until about 7:00.  Actually, Gak had just gotten there a few minutes before I had.  Steph had picked Boo up, and Boo and Zoe were playing in the back yard when I got home.  They actually didn't even notice my car pulling up.  I stuck my head out the back door and just yelled "Boo!" and you'd have thought I'd promised free ice cream for life the way they both came running.  (What can I say, Zoe loves me too...)  The funny part was I got a quick hug and then Boo was off and running again with Zoe.  That was fine by me as I had a headache and wanted to catch up with Steph and Kat a bit before rounding up a boy-o to then go return the rental car and go home.

The weekend was nice.  I did have Velcro-boy a bit at night, but that's been happening frequently these days.  It's become part of the bedtime routine in a way.

We spent Saturday doing laundry and running some errands.  Sunday morning was cleaning, a few more errands and some blob time.  Sunday night Gak and I went to our friend Scott's surprise 40th birthday party.  Kat did an awesome job planning it.  We had a lot of fun and enjoyed a nice evening out with friends and not having to be Momma and Daddy.  Monday was rainy and icky.  Boo and I went down to Amma's around lunch time.  We even went over next door to play with Henry and Lia for a little bit.  Boo was being a bit clingy and shy and Velcro-boy so it didn't last long, much to Henry's disappointment I think.  But, over all it was a good day.

Like I said earlier, this week at work's been tough, even though it is a short week.  I'll get over it and move on.  I get the feeling I need a followup before October though on this whole exhaustion thing...

This weekend should be fun.  Tomorrow Boo starts in his bumper bowling league while the bigger kids continue to bowl in their league.  Sunday we're having a family pot-luck and meeting for Girl Scouts.  I'll be having a brief meeting in the first part to go over registration and goals for the year and stuff and then it'll be relax and get to know everyone time.  You see, I've gone from 5 or 6 girls to probably 17 or 18.  Yep, my troop has tripled in size.  I'm actually looking forward to meeting all the new girls.  A lot already know each other because there are a couple of troops that have dissolved over the past year and some are girls from the Junior troop some of my girls last year came from.  It should be a lot of fun.

I've now got 5 minutes to snuggle an awake boy, get dressed and get out the door.  Wish me luck.

Peace to all and may your travel adventures be good, and your focus remain strong.

Travel Time

Well, it's been a long time since I've written one of these posts!  I'm actually traveling for work a bit this week.  Nothing too far and only 2 nights away from home.  It should be good.  I'm heading out to a site to do some report work and visiting with a few others that are on the way or nearby.  So, it's part service call, part diplomatic mission of warm fuzzies.  All in all, it shouldn't be too bad.  I like all the guys I'm visiting and I've been to two of the plants before.

I'll be leaving today around lunch time and spending all day tomorrow on site working on reports and having lunch with a few sites.  Then Thursday on my way home I'm stopping at another site, just to say hi and check in with them.  Hopefully I'll be home by 6 Thursday evening and will be able to pick up Boo myself from daycare.

The last time I traveled for work it was right before Boo turned 1.  It was both good and miserable.  At least for me.  I think this time will be more miserable for Boo, because he's a bit (a lot) more aware of things.  I'll be calling home at bed time.  Also, we just spent a weekend away from Daddy, so he's been through that.  But, I'm Momma.  And as much as I'd love to say Gak and I are interchangeable, as everyone knows, you have different relationships with each of your parents.  And well, I'm the one Boo wants to cling to and snuggle with.  I think a good bit of that has to do with the fact that he just doesn't get to see as much of me as he does Gak, but also, again, I'm Momma and that tends to be a different bond than the one with Daddy.  All in all though, Gak and I both love our boy dearly and as much as I look forward to being out of the office, I'm not 100% looking forward to leaving the boys.  (Although, I am looking forward to an overnight trip next month with some college friends!!)

I am also negligent in posting not only about our weekend adventures (and trust me, Sunday was full of adventure!) I didn't even stop in to post a few words that yesterday was Gak's and my 7th anniversary!  I can't believe it's been seven years already, but some times it feels like we've always been married.  Here's to many, many, many more years together with my love.

I've got a boy to snuggle and a day to get ready for.

Peace to all and may your adventures be good, and the work challenging but fun.

Huh? What?

Let's see... it's been a week since I've posted.  As well as I was doing in July with posting, even with it being a reporting month, I've been doing equally miserably at updating in August.  Oh well, I'll get over it.

I've been battling off and on with exhaustion this month.  I had some follow-up blood work done and my Vitamin D levels are low, but within normal levels.  I'm not sure I totally believe it, but with the amount of Vitamin D I'm taking, I'd think my levels would be higher.  Oh well.  Hopefully it's just doing too much and the hard work of July catching up with me.  We shall see.  I just know that the last two weeks have been very difficult at work trying to focus and get things done.

On the plus side, there are a few good things going on.  My cousin Rae has finally passed the 20-week mark in her pregnancy.  I'm so thrilled that she and Kami are finally going to have a baby.  I can't wait to meet my newest little cousin, but I'm more than willing to wait another 29 weeks or so.  He can stay right where he is for now.

Mom, Boo and I went to the beach on Monday.  We had a great time.  I only have a few pictures.  Actually, I only have a few pictures from the whole month.  I've really fallen down on that, but I think part of it is burnout and part of it is the exhaustion showing through.  Anyhow, we had quite an enjoyable day on Monday.  We played on the beach and in the water, we had some lunch, went to the book store and the T-shirt store and had some ice cream.  Then we went back onto the beach for a little while more before heading home.  It was a very wonderful day.  I just wish Gak was able to join us at least one day.

I know I had some other positive things to post, but I honestly can't remember them right now.  I've been pretty distracted writing this between the show on the QM2 that Gak is watching, mindless puzzle games and putting a boy-o back to bed a few times.  Oh well.  I think I'll just wrap it up here.

Maybe later this week I'll do a craft update.  I've got 1 pair of socks done, 1 pair of socks almost done, a few scarves and one or two shrugs that I've completed since I last did a crafty-girl update.  I've been keeping my hooks busy in an attempt to keep my hands from shoveling more snacks into my mouth.  (I've been having a heck of a time not mindlessly snacking at work.)

Anyhow, I'm going to wrap this ramble up and head to bed...

Peace to all and may your thoughts not fragment and you have a good time.

Photography vs. Art?

I've been doing the "Photo A Day" challenges from Fat Mum Slim for the past 2.5 months.  Also, somewhere along the line a friend on G+ shared a circle of photographers, so now my feed is full of some awesome (and not so awesome) photos.
Seeing all these images and actually paying attention to the shots I'm taking, well, more attention than I had been paying, has got me rankled.  Actually, it has just brought somethings that have been festering in the back of my mind for a long time now to the surface.

As much as I love my digital camera and the ease with which I can take, and over take, pictures, I'm not sure  everything it's done for photography as an art is a good thing.  First off, with the price of cameras coming down, and the quality being pretty good, everyone and their cousin thinks they're a Photographer with a capital "P".  Now, I've been taking pictures practically since I can remember.  But, I still don't call myself a Photographer.  I'm a photographer.  I'm someone who enjoys taking pictures, not just snapshots.  I know a fair bit about how a camera works and what things like f-stop and ISO mean and how shutter speed and f-stop and ISO are all related.  I've taken a few classes in high school, but really they were for fun and practice and I didn't learn a whole lot I didn't already know.  I'm not an expert in lighting or staging a shot and I'm really no pro when it comes to using Photoshop or any of the other photo editing software packages out there.  And you know what, I don't want to.  I enjoy playing with my images and exploring the world and capturing moments as I see them.  I wasn't into big darkroom tricks when I was doing black and white film, and I'm not into big software tricks now that I'm digital.


That leads me to one, or maybe several, of the other things that is bugging me about photography these days.  All the "tricks" everyone and their brother seems to be using on every single photograph.  Like capturing a moment in time isn't good enough, but they've got to fiddle with it and make it "perfect".  Dad's always telling me there's no such thing as perfect.  Sure, I'll adjust the contrast or the "exposure" or color levels, but that's about it.  And yes, I crop pictures, sometimes a LOT sometimes just a little and sometimes not at all.  And no, they're not always perfectly square or in the standard ratios.

And what is it with long exposures (especially of streams, creaks and water falls), single color highlights and whatever this HDR baloney is?  And why, in the name of all that is holy must every single shot be made to look as if it was shot using a Polaroid with half expired film?  I just don't get it.  I'm so not a fan of any of this.   In my mind it destroys the purity of photography, it makes it dirty.  I can't come up with any better word for it, but it just feels dirty to me.  Maybe I'm a realist living in an impressionist world, but why must every single person feel the need, no the mandate, to use every single tool in the Photoshop toolbox?  Aren't their images good enough to stand on their own two feet without all these tricks?
Yes, I know that sometimes you can't say what you want to say without some of these tricks.  I'll freely admit that I have a photo hanging in my living room that's of some lilies that I took at a museum in California that I played with in Photoshop to make what I lovingly call a "faux-Monet".  I have a Monet lily poster hanging on the opposite wall.  They go well together.  But, I don't do that to every blessed shot I shoot.

I'm not really sure what the point of all this was.  I know I can't change human nature.  And photography is the latest "fad".  Actually, I'm sure my dad'll tell me it's been a fad since the first affordable Kodak camera came on the market and that in the days after WWII everyone and their brother thought they were a Photographer.  Maybe it is just the mass bombardment we get with social media and the 24x7 connections we've got these days.  Maybe it's that all these tricks are becoming "easy" and are cheap.  But quite frankly, I'm not sure it's doing photography as an art form much good.  It makes everyone go "I can do that" and they think they can and you get inundated with nothing more than a million snapshots.  Yes, I take a lot of snapshots myself, but still... I've been taught to "look" and "see" the image and compose the shot at least to some extent and I do that more often than not, even with snapshots.  (Point in fact, I can remember trying very hard to set up a shot and get the perfect picture of a man with a stack of what seemed like 100 hats on his head at the KC Renascence Faire back when I was about 7 or 8 years old and getting nothing but frustrated.  The man understood what I was trying to do and posed wonderfully for me, but it seemed like everyone saw "just a kid" and had no problems barging in front of me while trying to take a shot.  And since this was back in the 80's I was shooting film and hoarding every single exposure I had on my roll.)

And, I'm a bit of liar.  I've put a camera in my son's hand at the ripe old age of 3 (and now he's 4) and let him have at it.  I fully intend on teaching him the lessons dad and mom taught me along the way.  But, for now, I let him take a million snapshots and then tell him he's taken enough for now and put the camera up on a high shelf.  He does get some interesting ones and I think part of why I do it is because it lets me see the world through his eyes.  I'm sure this was an unintended (or maybe an intended) bonus for my own parents when they put a camera in my own hands at a young age.  (That and I'm sure dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps and since photography is a passion and brought so much joy to him and a way to explore the world, he wanted to share it with Jon and I.)

So, with this jumble of thoughts and grumpiness (and no pictures today) I will leave you.  I haven't done well with the August challenge.  My exhaustion has been catching up with me again and my heart just isn't in it this month.  There have been some great prompts, but I'm just not feeling it at the moment.  (I am enjoying playing with Dad's Nikon D80 though... even though I really need to download the manual and figure out how to use the old non-AF lenses... I keep getting errors and the camera won't let me shoot...)

I bid you peace and joy in your hobbies.  (And for all that is holy step away from the photo editor.... please, just this once?)

Picture Pages

I promised you a picture page update the other day.  So, here it is.  Yesterday's and today's pictures are still on the camera, so you'll have to wait.  I'm not feeling very verbose this evening, but since I'm tired, that means I'll probably end up rambling way longer than I expect to...

August 1st, Outside.  I was actually feeling a little creative with this one.  This is looking out from the living room through the screen door onto the balcony.  I purposefully focused on the screen, not the flowers.

August 2nd, One.  I had problems with this one.  I dug Boo's "1" magnet out of the drawer and found a creative background on the fridge.  The focus is a little off.  Oh well.

August 3rd, coin.  This is the handful of Canadian coins that are still floating around in my work computer bag.  They're sitting on the inside of the flap of my current work bag.  I tried to make it interesting...

August 4th was "somewhere you sat".  Well, I'm not sure I need to say much more about this.  It was a wonderful afternoon at the beach.

 August 5th was logo.  I thought about getting a picture of the sign of the development we were staying in, but I didn't.  Besides, this is my favorite pizza and one of the big reasons I keep going back where I go.  Gotta love Grotto.

August 6th, is writing.  Playing in the sand.

August 7th was 8:00.  And well, Tuesday I was back at work and in the 8:00 hour this is what my desk looked like.  Or at least part of my desk.  This was shortly after I got the afore mentioned email about my Hydra of a problem customer.  Oh well.

Yesterday morning I took the one for the 8th, Wednesday's prompt was "glasses".  It's not very creative and it's still on the camera.  I'll post it later.

Yesterday was "messy" and I got a great shot of Boo while eating ice cream.  It wasn't the messiest he's been eating ice cream, but it was still pretty darn cute.

Today's was ring.  I think I got a pretty creative one, but again, it's still on the camera.  And I'm about to go crash into bed.  Here's hoping I actually crash.  I've been exhausted all week.  Not quite the bone aching exhaustion of earlier in the spring, but pretty close.  I've been that cold I get when I'm exhausted in the middle of the day at work.  I can't keep my eyes open in the evening, but as soon as I lie down, my eyes are wide awake and I can't shut the brain down.  I had blood drawn this morning to check my vitamin D levels.  I was supposed to get it done this month, so that's pretty convenient.  I just wish I could get all my energy back and get back into my 3-5 day-a-week activity groove and get back to eating the way I know I should be eating.  I know a good part of why I feel like I do is because I just haven't been doing what I need to do for my body.

See, I told you I'd end up rambling a bit.

Anyhow, I'm off to bed.

Peace to all and may you get some great photos and plenty of rest.

Beach!

Sorry I haven't posted all week.  The end of last week was pretty hectic at work and then I actually had a bit of "vacation".  It may have only been three days, but is was a very full, very fun and also pretty darn relaxing three days.  Even with being very full and lots of driving.

Yep, Kat, Steph, the kids and I went to Rehoboth for the weekend.  Well, Kat and Zoe had to go to Arlington on Friday and then drove over to Delaware that night.  Steph, the kids and I left Friday after work (we managed to get on the road by 6 when we both got off work at 4...).  It was really late when we got to the house, but it was all good.

Anyhow, Saturday was a fairly lazy morning followed by a handful of hours at Cape Henlopen State Park.  We were at the south end, just north of Rehoboth proper.  We couldn't find parking in Rehoboth and silly me didn't think about taking the Park and Ride until we were circling the blocks... oops.  It was much more enjoyable actually to be at Henlopen.  The best part of the day?  Swimming with my boy-o in the waves.  I think I need to convince him to wear a flotation vest when we do that though... just because he's a bit tough to hold on to and he can't swim by himself yet.  Next time... Yep, that's right, we actually went far out enough that I had to jump to keep my head above water when some of the waves came.  We had fun.  We also had fun playing in the sand and just having a really good afternoon.

We had a late-ish dinner back at the house of spaghetti (we were going to have it earlier than later, but the water just didn't want to boil and we had to get everyone showered...) then we headed back into Rehoboth and hung out at Fun Land for a little bit, wandered a few shops and then had ice cream.  We got home around midnight.

Sunday was spent cleaning in the morning.  We ended up doing a good bit more cleaning than we planed to, but that's because the two 11-year-olds were having problems with listening and being good role models for Boo.  So, they got extra cleaning chores.  I'm sure Dorothy and the rest will appreciate everything we got done off the "honey-do" list and then some.  We then took the park and ride into Rehoboth and had an early dinner of Grotto Pizza and Thrasher's French Fries on the boardwalk before hitting the sand for a few hours. Then, sadly, it was time for Steph, Kat and the kids to go.  Boo was very sad about that.  But, it meant a quiet evening at the house for the two of us.  Actually, he crashed pretty hard very shortly after we got home.

Monday I did the last of the laundry and our packing.  Then we met Mom at McDonalds.  We decided the park and ride was the best option and headed into town.  We had a few hours on the beach just being lazy for the most part and splashing a little in the waves.  Boo was wearing shorts because he didn't want to wear his swimsuit because he wasn't going to get wet.  That lasted about 10 minutes.  Thankfully I had two more clean sets of clothes for him.  We got off the beach right as a little storm rolled through and we had a light lunch at Grotto Pizza.  We then wandered up to the book store and then Boo declared it was time for ice cream (hence the need for the third set of clothes for the day...).  We then head back to the car.

We'd arranged to go to dinner at about 5:30 with Jay.  Since we had about an hour or so to kill, we wandered over to the outlets.  We went to Old Navy where Amma and I picked up several things for Boo's fall/winter clothes and I picked up two shirts.  By the time we left there, Boo was sound asleep in his stroller.  He got about a half hour snooze all together.  After Old Navy we went to the Corning outlet where I got a dozen new plates (6 big, 6 small) to replace my broken blue ones from Ikea.  They're pretty neat and should be much less breakable.

We had an enjoyable dinner with Jay and then it was sadly time to get on the road.
That was my whirlwind vacation.  We had so much fun together.  We've got to do it again.  I've posted a few pictures here, but there are many, many more over on Flickr (I think I uploaded 35 or 40... out of the about 80 I had on my camera...)

This week's been a real winner... any relaxation I still had from my vacation vanished within about an hour of getting to work.  Stupid Hydra of a problem.  But, that's another story.

Anyhow, hopefully tomorrow I'll get around to doing a "Photo a Day August" post...

Peace to all and may your vacations be wonderful, even if they're only 3 days long.

New Month, New Adventures

Since it's almost 9:00, I'm going to try and keep this brief.   Here are the last of the July Photo A Day photos and today's photo.  I took today's photo using my Dad's Nikon D80.  I'm borrowing it for a while, mostly because I've had that itch to have a little more control over my photographs.  I've added a few more photos I've taken with the D80 on Flickr.  I've only played with a tiny fraction of the settings and I'm overwhelmed.  Kinda like my Photoshop Elements.  I use just enough to do what I want and ignore about 90% of it.  I'm having fun with the D80, so maybe there'll be a few more "creative" shots...

July 30th: Calm.  You can't get much more calm than Boo actually sleeping.  He's so darn cute when he sleeps.  So sweet, it makes it even harder to leave for work...

July 31: Toothbrush.  This is Boo's and my toothbrushes.  I love the echo of the line of the sink in the line of Boo's blue toothbrush.  (I actually took this one today, but that's only because my Cannon's battery was dead last night.

August 1st: Outside.  I tried to think "outside the box" on this one.  Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything I had around that I could literally take outside the box.  So, I took this one looking out the back door.  Yes, I focused on the screen on purpose.

Anyhow, I've got 2 more work days until the weekend.  And I'm so looking forward to this.  Steph, Kat and the kids are joining Boo and I down at Bobbie's house in Delaware for the weekend.  We're leaving Friday night and Boo and I are staying until Monday, but the rest are coming home Sunday night.  Mom's coming down Monday.  It should be an awesome time.  Everyone is so looking forward to it.  Well, maybe not Gak, but that's because he has to stay home and work.  Wish he could come, but like Zoe said yesterday, this is a "no Daddy weekend".

Peace to all and may August bring you new, more fun adventures than July.