PhotoPie - Week 2

If you missed the posts from lasts week's PhotoPie challenge, you can find them here and here.

A new Friday, means a new topic! Yay!

This week's topic: Candid Portraits

Portrait - a representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position.

Candid photography - best described as unposed and unplanned, immediate and unobtrusive. This is in contrast to classic photography, which includes aspects such as carefully staged portrait photography, landscape photography or
object photography. Candid photography catches moments of life from immersion in it.


This doesn't mean that the person HAS to be looking right at the camera. For some other great examples of portraits, do a flickr search for portraits and peruse the most interesting. Or check out Flickr's Candid Portrait Photography Pool. You want to capture personality or their current emotion.

Also, try checking out some of these tips for taking better candid shots.

You can photograph people of all ages, friends, relatives, or (if you have the nerve, or a trusty zoom lens) strangers.

• Make sure the picture is YOURS.
• The picture has to be a new one, posted on or after today's date with a link to the photopie challenge in your blog post.

My example... I'm going to post an old shot of mine:

Like last week, I'll post my new pictures (using both my POS & D-SLR) in the next few days.

Don't forget to stop back by and check out the pictures from other users! I've added a quick link to the Weekly Photo Challenges on the left hand side of my site.

Have fun!

If You Want My Body and You Think I'm Sexy

or, "I'm So Vain, I Probably Thought this Blog was About Me, About Me"

I really hope I'm over analyzing and am just being vain, but what is with MEN these days? Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks every sleaze ball out there is trying to hit on her....

When salesmen come in to the office and try and schmooze me on whatever product they are selling, and they wink or make a joke, I automatically think they want me. More often than not, this repulses me. Of course, the guy could very well Just. Be. Trying. To. Sell. Something. and might actually think I am a hideous beast covered in inflamed sores.

Which leads me to today's run in with my dermatologist. I've never seen this doctor before so I was quite surprised when he walked in and was relatively attractive and close to my age. He seemed to be quite shocked when saw me too. His eyes lit up and he enthusiastically reached for my hand to shake it and greet me. When he asked why I was here I gave a laugh and pointed to my face..... acne, obviously. I explained how I never had a problem before and then I went off the pill and ... dun dun dunnnnn.

This is when he started to get all jokey on me. He laughed and wobbled his head while telling me to "get back on that pill lady."

What about, "I didn't want the hormones in my body anymore" didn't he get?

So he checked out my acne and asked the dreaded question ... "Do you have acne anywhere else?" .... um YEAH. He read the chart... or should have. I told the nurse I have a mild case of bacne, surely he knew this. But no, he was going to make SAY IT.

In the end, he prescribed some antibiotics and a ridiculously expensive topical cream and told me I'd need a follow up appointment in two months.

OK. Thanks. Goodbye.

He opened the door and placed his hand on my arm, kind of grabbing it, "It was nice meeting you. I'll see you in two months?"

....Am I disillusioned? Or was he flirting? Or maybe he just got excited because there was a normal looking, twenty-something girl in his office instead of another, middle-aged, wrinkle-faced broad?

Am I the only girl who thinks these things? Am I getting too cocky? Have I become so confident that I just assume every sly talking, smile giving, head-wobbling man out there is hitting on me? Please tell me I have .... because I'm so sick of these guys! Bleh.

Maybe I'm the equivalent of the balding, middle-aged man with his Camero who is JUST SURE that those college girls are giggling at him because he so freaking hot. When in reality, they are just laughing at him.

My Contribution

***2/28...Edited the list down below ....

If you haven't already heard about (or participated in) my First. Ever. Weekly Photo Challenge... then well, I'm sorry. Because you are totally missing out on all of this up-close-and-personal-fun we are having!

Yep. This week's topic, macro (though maybe not the TRUE definition of macro, but as macro as we can get with out spending thousands in lenses...).

What do I need to do? I'm glad you asked...

Take a picture of something, ANYTHING, up close and in focus. THEN, post it on your site or your flickr / photo sharing site of choice. THEN, comment and link to that picture HERE. You have until Friday, when I post a new topic.

Some of the others who have already posted their pictures:
(go check them out and leave a little comment luv....because everyone of these pictures is great!)

• Sensibly Sassy
• Ashley
• Funny Mommy
• Design Gal
• Colleen Sherman
• Stacia
• Raven
• Le Petit Chic
• sohobutterfly
• C's husband, M, even contributed!
• The Smith Family

And now, like I said, I'm posting from both the trusty, old Point n' Shoot and my D-SLR.

First: My Panasonic DMC-LC70

... with out flash, in lower lighting so it is a bit grainy - but I think I like it.

Second: My Canon 30D with a fixed 50mm f/1.4 lens

Zit-Zilla

Growing up, I was never plagued with acne, as many adolescents were. To be honest, I often went to bed with out washing my face. Oh who am I kidding. The only time I DID wash my face, was in the shower, and it was with whatever soap happened to be around. If my skin felt dry, I grabbed the nearest bottle of lotion (hand lotion, bath and body works cucumber melon.. whatever) and rubbed some into my face. Blasphemy, I know. But seriously, I never had more than one pimple at a time, and most of the time, I had none.

Until this past year....

April 2007, I made the decision to go off The Pill and have a more semi-permanent, ant-baby device inserted into my uterus (the Mirena IUD). They said a side effect could be acne, because the pill is often used to suppress acne... a hormonal thing. I just laughed it off. Because come on, I had flawless skin. Even after three years on Depo-Provera (another birth control option that was said to cause acne), I had a gorgeous complexion.

Not anymore. For the past 10 months, I've been struggling with acne of varying degrees. It started out with just a few pimples here or there. Then it spread to my jaw line... and then my right cheek. Now, Both sides of my face our covered in scars and pimples ... and I even get eyebrow blemishes, and third-eye blemishes. And don't get me started on my bacne! (Gasp! I said the evil word.) Now, my husband claims he doesn't notice the bacne, but I feel the bumps. I hate the bumps. They've never existed before... remember, for 25 years, I HAD FLAWLESS SKIN!

I tried many things, AcneFree (cheap version of Proactiv), sensitive skin facial soap, oil-free moisturizer when needed..... I don't remember the last time I missed a twice a day face-washing. I went to the dermatologist back in the summer, she prescribed something or other and I took it for a month. It helped, so I stopped taking it. ( I know, I know) Things started flaring up again in January, so I made another appointment... after procrastinating for a wee bit too long. I have my appointment tomorrow.

Wish me luck. (Unfortunately, - my breakouts have become less frequent this week, so the doctor wont be seeing me in all my glory. So, wish for some mean blemishes to appear overnight, would you?)

I promise I used to be in the flawless-skin-club. I promise! I remember how I used to imagine what it must feel like to have pimples ALL OVER one's skin. Now, I know what it feels like. Yuck. I miss those days when I used to take my skin for granted ....

Little Treasures

I spent the afternoon with my friend M. We did some shopping and had lunch. I wasn't really on the hunt for anything in particular, but did manage to pick up a few trinkets along the way.

Our first stop was Liv, and eco-friendly store on California Ave. The store was filled with some very cute home decorating items .... too bad my pockets weren't filled with enough cash. I couldn't resist these two little birds though....

Next stop, a few different antique/thrift stores on Virgina... where I scored two 70% off pieces: a tiny yellow vase and a shrimp plate (that claims to be made in "Occupied Japan"... but looks pretty new, so I doubt it!).

I'm totally in love with the shrimp plate! It's going on display in the dining room and I think I might be on the look out for more similar little plates.

New Love

One year for Christmas, B and I purchased a little espresso machine for his brother L and his boyfriend J. We hadn't visited their new home, and weren't exactly sure what to buy them... but hey, who wouldn't want a little espresso machine? Right?

When we visited L&J this past Christmas, we noticed that they had since moved up in the world of espresso machines. They were proudly displaying a fully automatic machine on their kitchen counter. Somehow, we jokingly brought up the little POS machine we purchased for them and joked that they must have given it to the needy* to make room for this fancy pants machine. In an unexpected move, J leaped from the couch and pulled out this little beauty of an espresso machine I hadn't seen since we picked it out of the catalog in 2005. He offered to give it back to us, and of course, offered to take it home!

I like to think that they liked our dinky, little machine SO MUCH that it paved a caffeinated path to Williams Sonoma and inspired them to upgrade to a fancy automatic espresso maker. In other words, our gift inspired them to shell out lots of money. Muahahaha.

We finally got around to getting espresso beans this weekend. Hubby actually offered to make a trip to pick some up this morning (along with bagels) so I could indulge in a latte instead of my usual morning coffee.

Let's just say that is a joyous thing being able to make as many lattes in one day as I'd like. I've already made four... two of which were for me.

* J has the tendency to buy nice things and then "give things to the needy" when they get bored with it. Because the "needy" need Prada shoes and Espresso Machines. They are great couple to be around if you are "needy"...

Un-Meme-ing a Meme

In response to this tag by Ashely ...... I'm going to tell you lovely folks six non-important things / habits / quirks about myself:

1.) I typically find unusual-looking men attractive (sorry hubby! haha.) i.e. Yao Ming, Conan O'Brien and Kevin Bacon.

2.) I hate chicken breast.

3.) I have a routine in which I follow each time I take a shower... if I mess up, I have to start over.

4.) Continuing with the OCD .... when ever I leave the house and the dogs are to be left alone, I always say, "Bye boys. Love you. See you later!" Always. Because, you know, they'll TOTALLY notice if I forget.

5.) Before I moved to this town, I never liked pizza. Never. Now I love pizza. Blame it on Blue Moon and Blind Onion why don't you.

6.) I secretly (ok, not so secretly) wish I were geekier. In the techy sense....

PhotoPie

I asked about it a while ago, and you guys responded with a lots of, "YES! DO IT!" ... OK, maybe not that enthusiastically, but there lots of people interested. So here we go....

First ..a link to share. Amanda created this awesome Quick Guide to Using Your Canon Digital Rebel XTi This is also a good link for any new DSLR owners. Just read her explanations for TV mode and ISO etc. A great place to start .. besides reading your manual of course.
-------------------
Second.. a book to share. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is an all around AWESOME guide to learning more about .. well.. exposure. Seriously, go buy it!
--------------------
Now for this first week's challenge: Macro - or a shot of something up close. As close as you can get.. but don't forget to keep it in focus.

For those of you who are not using the manual mode on your SLR or for those who are using point and shoot cameras, try the macro setting your camera usually denoted by a flower icon it might help you focus a bit better. Also, try turning the flash off and taking a picture of a subject in natural light.

Take pictures of ANYTHING... anything up close and personal!

Here's an example.... (not so close-up I guess... but you get the idea)

So, go on ... go take pictures. Post the picture on your blog or flickr site and then comment here with the link so we can all go and ooh and ahh over you pictures! You have a week, until I post a new challenge next friday.

The only rule... use only NEW pictures.

I'm going to do this every Friday from now own. Feel free to help out by suggesting ideas.

I'll post my entry this week too. To make it extra fun (yay, fun!), I'm going to post a picture from point and shoot AND my D-SLR.

Embarrassing Moment

Sent a text message to a friend asking him to give something to my husband today.

I got a response that said, "who is this?"

A playful conversation took place then where I referred to myself as one of my husband's many hussies, and acknowledged that it is so hard to keep track of them all. This continued until I finally had to call my husband to verify this friends number because they just weren't getting that it was me texting them.

Go figure, I had their number transposed in my phone and was having a text conversation with a random.

I couldn't leave it at that. Instead, I confessed what had happened to that stranger via text one last time. They were courteous enough to text back, "It's Okay. :)"

At least now I know why that friend never responds or never knows who I am when I text him!

myTunes

Besides our iPhones (we both have one), we also own a 1GB Shuffle and a 30GB iPod Video. There is no shortage of mp3 playing devices in our lives folks... none at all. Our only problem is making sure they are all charged when needed.

I can't quite bring myself to get rid of anything either. The 30GB is great to have for road trips or driving in the car that has the iPod connector in the glove compartment (since it isn't a phone, you don't have to have it accessible). The shuffle is great for walks or the gym. Then of course, there are the two iPhones. Which, duh, I'm not getting rid of.

I hook my iPhone up in my car with a series of wires and white, iPod-like accessories. With all of these wires, shiny objects with touch screens, and gigabytes floating around, I've been inspired to add new music to my life.

I've never been one to be up to date on what albums were hot or up and coming artists. Frankly, if it wasn't on the radio and I didn't know Every. Single. Word. I wasn't listening to it and I didn't care about it.

In elementary school and middle school, I had a BFF that had crazy skills for a 10 year old. I'm pretty sure she's the first person who introduced me to Sublime. I always envied her ability to know about music before it became over played on the radio. I have always wanted to be that cool, but let's face it, I'm not cool. Honestly, I don't care about music. Heck, I don't even like concerts!

We have a solid music collection. We owe most of it to a friend and the other stuff was ripped from hubby's CD collection. Unfortunately, we hadn't updated our music for 3+ years!

This year, I'm changing all of this. I desperately WANT to like music. Not just listen to it, I want to enjoy music.

I've made a vow to purchase a new album twice a month. I've been doing this since the first of year and have acquired several new albums since:

Madelein Peyroux: Careless Love
Cat Power: Juke Box
The Juno Soundtrack
Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
Band of Wild Horses

....and most recently, Yael Naim & Kings of Leon.

From now on, I'm going to share my recent album purchases with you of there in the left hand side of this. Feel free to give me any suggestions. I'm in desperate need of them. As you can tell from this week's selection, I'm picking and choosing based on songs used in commercials! I'm so lame.

Reading My Mind

The other day, I mentioned to one of our friends that I felt the iPhone needed even MORE features. I think he was a little shocked as he started naming all of the cool features the iPhone ALREADY has. Yeah yeah... but frankly, I'm just not satisfied.

Not being an ULTIMATE geek... I don't subscribe to Wired (though I should... drool) and I don't peruse Macworld.com on a daily basis (again, I should... even more drool). So today was the first time I actually googled some of my wish list items for the iPhone. Obviously, I'm not the only one out there who wants MORE.

This article says it all. Every last bit... plus some. Here are some of those items that I really care about ...

• ability to send MMS - not just pictures via email. Unfortunately, not everyone has an iPhone or PDA of some sort that allows them to check their email right away (I know, shame on them.). And not all of the people who DO have an iPhone (ahem .. HUBBY!) actually check their email all of the time on their phone (DOUBLE SHAME. You are not worthy of the Great iPhone. You really should down grade to the Razor.)
• the ability to use the keyboard in landscape mode while sending text messages.
• an instant messaging client
• saving pictures from email and web to phone
• deleting multiple email messages

And I may be wrong here, but we have two users on our computer. (we have two computers, but keep all the music on the larger desktop) We don't use outlook, as gmail's web based mail system is spectacular (oh the ability to search and NOT have to clean up after yourself by filing shit here or there, just so you can find it again) and very fast. We have two different calendars and two address books (also, two different play lists for iphones, but thankfully, you can choose what you want to sync ... so we don't have to worry about that). How do I do this? For now, I'm just editing my calendar and address book straight off of the phone. What is the right way to do this?

Also, today was the first time I purchased music in iTunes on my phone - usually I just purchase it from the computer. I haven't had the chance to sync my phone since the purchase... but how will that work? Will I get that music on my computer and B's phone (uses same itunes files)? Or is it stuck on my phone? Just curious. My guess is it will work just like downloading it on the computer... but after seeing how itunes makes you pay for ring tones twice ......... I'm not putting anything past them. I should have known better. Damn my, "but I want it NOW!" syndrome.

In case you were wondering, I bought the Kings of Leon (thanks to the Ford Focus commercial..."You know you could have been a wonder....." ) album.. Youth & Young Manhood, and (thanks to the Mac Book Air commercial) Yael Naim's album.

How about you? Any wants for your iPhone?

They Don't Belong to Me

.... but they are damn cute!

Hendrix, this is C's sister A's first pup.


Bowie, A's most recent addition.


Whiskey, he belongs to my C's parents.


Tobin, he belongs to my brother-in-law (the one who just got married).


Xiao Gou, he's M&C's first pooch - and he's from China!



Nika, also belongs to M&C, and as you can see... rarely stands still long enough to get a good picture.

Sweet Baby S

Having such a precious little girl so close to us... is not doing anything to cure my baby fever!

M&C's Baby S turned one month old on Saturday. I was able to see them all both this weekend. Of course I took a few pictures. Baby S is still tiny, but my how she is filling out....

This one I over exposed... I'm such a newbie! ... but it was too cute not to share. I think it could have been the best shot out of the bunch. Damn it damn it damn it. Oh well.. as sucky as my "people pictures" are... overexposed or not, this could STILL be the best shot!

Naturally, seeing such a beautiful baby, makes me scared to death that if we ever have a baby, it will be the most awful looking creature - beautiful only in our eyes (I hope at least).

Vigilant

For the past month, the entire community has been busy talking about, looking for, and preparing for the worst outcome after something terrible had happened to someone.

For some reason, I'm feeling a little nervous about mentioning what happened here on my blog. I don't know why.. maybe for Google purposes. Maybe some part of my deranged imagination fears that this bad person will do a Google search, read my blog, see the pictures of my dogs and the park across the street and easily track me down and do bad things to me. Far fetched, I know, but still ..... I'm going to keep this vague (but I'll link to new articles so you can all get clued in... but you local folks know what I'm talking about).

My heart goes out to the families and friends connected to this person. They were so loving... working their butts off trying to spread the word. They made sure everyone knew what happened and what their loved one looked like... so everyone looking, asking.... helping. You couldn't drive two blocks with out seeing this beautiful face, full of life looking back at you, pleading for help through the words of her family members.

This weekend, they announced that the body of this person had been found and it appears that we now have a serial-bad-guy in these parts.

This is scary. I know that there are these bad-guys that exist normally... but to know that there is a serial-bad-guy on the loose? This is definitely making me change how I do things, how my husband does things.

I can't believe how careless I've been before... not about parking lots or dark allies. I'm not completely naive. But when it comes to my own home. You can bet your domain name that I've become a bit more careful these past few days. Actually, all of the women I know seem to be taking extra steps to becoming more careful. If the two good things can come out of this horrible tragedy, I hope it is that one... they catch this serial-bad-guy and justice is served and two ... that women don't take their safety for granted anymore.

I know this isn't the first time this has happened. Almost every major, metropolitan area has had their fair share of serial-bad-people... I just hope the students at our university watch out for each other a little more now, and that husbands, boyfriends, or other girlfriends offer to tag along on late shopping trips and potty trips with the dogs. I hope they don't just become extra vigilant for a few weeks before getting lazy and returning to their old ways... until this happens to someone else.

You can read all about it here...

Sentenced to a Life in Prison

...with out parole.

Remember how I told you about giving my dogs their freedom during the day? Despite that one time T pooped on camera for my entire office to see..... they've done rather well. No accidents, no chew-victims. They've been on their best behavior. So, we've continued this freedom-fun every morning from 7:45am - 1pm.

Apparently, today was their breaking point. Their little brains couldn't handle the wait from 1:00pm - 1:45pm when my husband came home to take them out (after a lunch date with yours truly, at Newman's Deli... FABULOUS, btw). That extra 45 minutes outside of their crates was just too much excitement for them to handle. When my husband came home, he came home to this:



A LARGE GAPPING HOLE IN MY 17 MONTH-OLD LOVE SEAT! A love seat that is still under the no payments, no interest for 18 months sales agreement from Ashley Furniture that is scheduled to be paid off this month. The same love seat that got attacked by T in March, on his last trial run with freedom. I should have learned then.....

(I must breathe. Breathe and BREATHE SOME FREAKING MORE!)

Back to their crates they go. No more feeling sorry for them, the little buggers. They NEVER do this under our supervision. NEVER EVEN TRY. they are perfect angels... I don't get it.

"They" say that some dogs prefer their crates, it gives them a sense of security. "They" also say that (obviously) dogs don't think like humans. Maybe I was naive in thinking they'd enjoy being free more than being "cooped-up" in their crates.

Valentine's Day Can Suck It

Shitty day already.

I hate "special days"......

Now if only I can avoid the upcoming 2 year anniversary. Just pretend it doesn't exist .... and we'd be just fine.

Pee-U

The only thing worse than smelling your own dog's urine on his first potty break of the day, is smelling someone else's dog's urine first thing in the morning.

Yesterday, as I came out the front door with both T & F in tow, we stopped as our neighbors and their black lab walked by. When they passed, we headed in the opposite direction. As we approached the first bush, I smelled that smell... urine. Concentrated, first pee of the morning, the kind pregnancy tests require... urine. I looked down and sure enough... the lab had tried to mark the bush but instead created a lovely zig-zag pattern on the sidewalk. I think there may have even been steam emanating from it still.

T was just itching to get in there and show that urine who was boss... but I pulled him along. As much as I know he enjoy marking... I couldn't let him get his jollies that way ... not this time. I just couldn't handle the smell.

Somehow, I can ignore my own dog's first morning pee smell (well, my dogs are a bit smaller, so they don't pee like a Super Soaker 2000 squirts water)... kind of like how you can ignore the smell of your own feet, but when it comes to someone else's.....bleh.

*this is how exciting my life is these days, I'm posting about smelling a random dog's urine.

This Needs to be Discussed

I read this over HERE ( I think she lives in my city, though I haven't thoroughly blog-stalked her just yet... I found her through this lovely lady who does live in my city ... SWEET. Local Bloggettes .... though I have always had you and of course, you, sir.)

Apparently there are women out there who are putting their bras on differently than I do. So here I am, asking you fair bloggers, How do you put your bra on? If you wear one...

There is a poll, over there (<--) to the left. Knock yourselves out.

Stupid, Stupid Me

I did it again. This time, I thought I was making a purchase of $6.95 and it turned out to be a purchase of $6.95 a month for TWENTY-FOUR months... $166.80. And no, there wasn't a confirm this purchase page or anything.

So... after I confessed to my husband what I had done, and after one extremely irrational fit thrown by yours truly because, "I'm not stupid. Damn it!" To make things worse, the billing department was closed yesterday so I couldn't call and cancel anything until Monday.

We had to make the 3 hour drive (round trip) to deposit a few hundred dollars in that lame checking account that (minus a measly savings account attached) I have no idea why I still use.

The drive to Auburn was quite stressful itself. We missed the exit and I freaked out because my husband KEPT DRIVING (at 75 mph on the highway) while I tried to gather our bearings via the maps function on our iPhone while simultaneously trying to figure out where the bank's location was on the banks website... all while NOT CONNECTED to wi-fi. So my connection was unbearably slow and each minute that passed, we were ANOTHER 1.25 miles further from where we should have been. Instead of just pulling over so we could figure out where we were... he kept on driving towards San Francisco. As lovely as a tip to SF would have been, it was Sunday and out pups were at home... roaming free. And instead of me asking my dear husband nicely to pull over so I could figure things out.... I screamed and yelled about the injustice I was served in marrying a man who was unable to read my mind. I mean for crying out loud... why didn't he KNOW what I was thinking?

Eventually, we figured it out and got the check deposited. Afterwards, my husband looked at me and asked, "I didn't check, but did you sign the back of the check?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

No. No I didn't. I broke down, curled up in a ball and cried while my husband stared at me. "Quit LOOKING at me!"

He pulled out of the parking lot and offered to head to old town Auburn to take some pictures and made little jokes here and there... slowly pulling me back to sanity. Oh boy does he ever put up with me.

For our sanity and our pocketbook's, I must remember to only use Big-Daddy-Funds to make purchases online. I can't let this happen again .. I can't.

....and Jennie, this time we did stop and have In N Out on the way home ;) (though we do have In N Out here as well...)

February Thaw 2008 Edition

We are FINALLY getting some warm weather and sunshine. I swear, January was nothing but storm after storm. Don't get me wrong, I love snow as much as the next Renoite, but as a new-Renoite, I'm also pretty darn accustomed to seeing the sun. I'm pretty sure we have sun and blue skies about 80% of the time here (if not more).

We were in the 50's for most of this past week and today was no different. We took the dogs for a walk on the trail behind our apartment. Of course, I brought the camera...

F... trudging along. I'm pretty sure the boys had cabin fever too.



The View.







Last year, around this time, I took THIS picture of a tree. Now, this is all that remains of that tree. It burned down earlier this year. RIP old tree.



I love how it is 50+ degrees outside, yet because of how the sun shades things, there was still snow on parts of the path.


Yet just around that corner, you see this.



I wanted to recreate a picture of F from last year to show how much he's grown. I took THIS picture last February on F's first walk on this particular trail. It was also F's first time EVER going down stairs. The little bugger wouldn't budge!


And here he is, taking that same first step... notice the tongue? Anyone who has met my dogs knows that F is all about the licking! That boy wont take two steps with out slipping his little tongue out of his mouth.


and my favorite shot of the day .... nothing like a good tumbleweed crossing your path.

My Favorie Muffin

Besides my Little-Love-Muffin-Husband of course....

We had breakfast at My Favorite Muffin today. There is something relaxing about going out for breakfast on the weekends... almost like you are on a vacation.

Weekend or not, tasty bagels are always a welcomed treat.





I got so excited when I saw the green wall by these tables. I wanted to take a picture of B but whenever I'd bust out the camera, he'd duck and take a bite of his bagel-wich. Such a party pooper.

Portrait of F

This little guy's face is so expressive.

Evening Stroll

(I may not feel like writing/reading right now - am saving that for tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee - but I'm all about the pictures.)

I'm testing out a few borders and signature/watermarks. Colleen, I'd take you up on your offer, but unfortunately, my signature in real life is oh so lame! It isn't even worth trying re-create for this purpose! I thought I'd test it out on some pictures I took at the park across the street this evening.

T, watching a little girl and her tiny yorkie head off into the sunset.





The park has such beautiful, high-desert landscaping.


It was like someone took a pink highlighter and colored the sky.
(Forgive me if on you used that description recently, I know I'm not poetic enough to have come up with it on my own.)



The view from the park.

Baby G

My cousin J and his wife M welcomed their new baby girl, G, into their lives last week! They adopted their precious, 13 month old, little girl from Ethiopia and made the trip last week to bring her home.

So far, despite a few normal jet lag issues, all seems to be going well for their new family. Everyone is in love, but with a face like this.... how could you not be in love?

Welcome to the family Baby G! I can't wait to meet you!

Non-Productive

I'm not really feeling like writing today ... or reading. I think I'm going to spend some time with Da Pooches .... I'll be back this weekend.

Everyone is terribly distraught, I know.

Holy Travel Hell

Check it out... I won 2nd place in the Travel Hell: sometimes Getting There Sucks competition (put on by Sass Attack, Hotfessional,And The Pursuit of Happiness) for this post.

Sweetness.

Trying to be Vague

I don't live in a Super Tuesday state, but I am curled up in a ball watching CNN PROJECT the winners and losers. Project people, project. What good does that do me? If the person I want is winning or isn't winning, I get excited or freak out. Is this going to be the real outcome? Is there a chance the numbers might change? It is like a freaking emotional roller coaster controlled by Anderson Cooper.

I have visions of my cousin - eight years ago, home sick from work, curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth on the verge of depression all because of a possible presidential outcome (though, his was worse as it wasn't just the primaries). Except this time it is me curled up in a ball.

For now, I'm going to change the channel and curse at On Demand for not giving me the option to watch Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. Seriously? Why not? What is with the 5 minute blips and not showing the entire show? Agh!

Tuneage

Stereotypically speaking, husbands are supposed to be handy. I always knew my husband was... on a certain level. Sure, he can change the oil or a head light in a car - amongst other things - but to me, those were things he was supposed to know how to do. I didn't think he had any "special" handy qualities.

I've heard stories about his college years, his big rusty jeep that he tinkered with, or the jeep's stereo he hooked-up as his stereo for his room. I have just never seen of this type of handiness in him.

I take that back... there was that one time, after China, that he built his own computer. Now that was pretty cool. Secretly, I want a husband with Super Nerdy Powers combined with Super Masculine Powers (like oil changing. yes, that is the extent of my idea of masculine powers).

My car's CD player crapped out on me last week. It was old, so it was time for it to happen. The display screen had been going in and out for the last year. For the past few months, the CD player wasn't playing properly.. it had the tendency to skip every now and then. Last week, the display screen went dark and the CD player refused to do anything BUT skip.

B and I went shopping and picked up a new stereo for my car. He said we didn't need to have anyone install... he could do that.

Really? My husband is capable of switching out my car's CD players? With his OWN TWO HANDS (and with out wire strippers, that I learned later, but makes it even more impressive).

Sure, guys do this all of the time. I grew up in the Midwest, where it was all the rage to add that Back to the Future spoiler to your Prelude (or big ol' truck), change out the rims and throw in a kicking system. That is all the guys from high school did.

But my guy? MY HUSBAND? Whoa.

Sure enough, he did it. It looks all professional and stuff too. I can now hook my iPod or iPhone up the stereo and here what ever song I want! I even have a CD player that plays CD's in the wee hours of the morning while the car is still cold.

How lame is it that all it takes to impress me is to install a stereo? I'm swooning still ....

Sprung

Hubby and I decided to let the boys have free run of the place today. Usually, they are in their crates while we are at work - except for the hour that I 'm home for lunch. We figured it was time. I mean, T is almost 2 (wow.) and F is 15 months old.

(When ever we think about this, we are often reminded of the last time we tried to give T his freedom.)

The plan was to start off small. The boys were going to only be out of their crates before lunch, and would go back in after lunch. Before lunch, they have the sun to lounge around in. Sun means that they don't move. Ever.

When I came home for lunch, I was shocked to find only one, tiny casualty - a lamp knocked over. No problem.

So.... I decided to tempt fate. Why not? They had just proven themselves to be little angels for 5.5 hours. Surely they could keep it up for another 2. .....Surely.

Just to be safe, I decided to set up the web cam over their dog bed, so I could keep an eye on them.

I got back to work, all proud of my set up, and called my boss over to see my dogs. There we were, staring at the screen... Little F running about.... when my boss asked, "Where's T?"

..."Oh wait, there he is!"

There was T, on the screen, circling, sniffing, and ohmyGOD... SQUATTING?

My boss laughed and said, "Ha. He's going poop! He's going poop right in your living room!"

Way to go T. Waaaay. To. GO. That's my dog. I'm starting to think this is his thing. He's quite the on-screen pooper. I even have still images from Doggy Day Care web cams to prove it.

Just to be safe huh? More like, JUST TO TORTURE ME! It took until that moment when I realized that I couldn't do anything but sit