Day 247 - The Good and the Bad

I'm on a mission. The mission is to wring every last moment of enjoyment I can out of Wilbur before I have to return him. I am snapping shots of everything. From the frog tracks on the mustang to the train tracks on "that" side of town.

Some good, some not so good and some disappointing. We went to have an evening on the river but they closed the fountain and park AND planetarium for renovations. That sucked but we rallied and settled for ice cream at Maggie Moos.

I started the day by putting the God rock in the jar first. I said my prayers and I finished Genesis. Did you hear that???? I FINISHED Genesis! I had to give up one daughter to go car shopping with her dad. Um, yeah, I just can't compete with that. The other daughter however, chose to go looking for tracks on the wrong side of town and even let me shoot her a time or two. Top that off with a meal of epic heart attack making proportions and chocolate pudding, laundry and grocery shopping and there you have a well balanced day. Guess there's something too this God rock stuff.

I have to work Monday while everyone else is off but Sunday (my favorite day of the week. Just FYI) is the return of Kidstuff at Church, Starting Point begins, and the Family Fun Day at the church at Argyle.

All in all my weekend is well balanced.

Peace ~

Day 195 - Back to Basics - Repeated

*sighs, no time no time, must work, overworked superhero in da hooooouse! BUT I will take the time to remind myself of what I have to be grateful for. I'll just have to return to basics for awhile.*

Today I'm grateful for:

taking the time. Gratitude will get me through.

my man. He loves me beyond measure and actively proves it every single day.

my job. To have a job is a blessing, to have a job you love is a supreme blessing, to have a boss like mine is a blessing that can't be measured.

prayer on the fly. God don't care where I do it or how I do it, only that I do it. I did it, he answered in spades

the Pixie coming home in 2.5 days. I miss her like mad! This little taste of the empty nest has brought me to a conclusion. I'm keeping this one. *puts foot down*

not getting lost. I had to drive to the other side of the tracks in the predawn darkness. I didn't get lost. Miracles DO happen

boss 1. Given what we are going through, she not only accepted my being 1/2 hour late, she understood and sympathized.

Julie. The is the new receptionist boss 1 hired. She is awesomeness in receptionist form. She is MY superhero. She and I are going to rock this joint. Once her old boss lets her loose *sharpens sporks* I may have to go all Spork Ninja on that woman.

photographing the firehouse. It's an awesome white washed old Spanish mission style building with beautiful wrought iron accents. I pass it on the way home each day and wish I could stop and photograph it. Today I stop.

well behaved puppies. Roy slept with us last night. He was a good boy. It was nice to roll over in the dark and hear his tale thump on the mattress and feel his cold nose on my palm.

Day 99 - Photography 101

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
~Aaron Siskind~


Today I'm grateful for:

going for it. I am going to take a basic photography course online. I am worth the cost. There is something lacking in my photographs that I can't put my finger on. I want to learn more. Now I just need to find a reputable online school.

a St. Augustine crawl. FINALY the BFF and I get to go feed our shutterbugs. No kids, no men, just us and our cameras. The St. Augustine Lighthouse, The Cross, St. George St., The bridge of Lions and PIZZA! THE best pizza south of NYC. Dude, Saturday's going to be epic.

being a freak for God.

remembering the Connor Insanity Gene. I am not alone. Thanks Cuz! Love you! Muwwwah!

feeling grounded and connected.

the fact that "I got this"

being woken up. Seriously dude, you started it.

IT'S FRIDAY!

being nowhere near home when the man does the taxes. It's gonna get ugly up in here.

my mom's emails this morning. The first one made me feel special, the second one made me snort my coffee.

time with the BFF. I've missed her. Even if she calls me Mom.

My BFF on one of our City Crawls. Hot ain't she?

Day 9 - Monkey bowls, star fruit and H2O

I'm warm for the first time today. Earlier, I remembered how I got though those long D.C. winters. I lived in the bath. My tradition of hour long baths started there. My children know the rule "If you knock on the bathroom door there'd better be blood. Or their will be" So, now I'm at my desk with a hot cup of coffee and a few dark chocolate almonds to nibble, ready to go over my extraordinary day.

My morning didn't start out all that extraordinary. I was woken by a squeaking hamster telling me he had to go out. By the time I reached conciseness, piled on several layers of clothes and got him out of the transporter, it was to late. I spent the next 15 minutes (it felt like 15 hours) in the 23° morning, trying to get him to go outside so I could say "Good boy!" but I never got the chance. All I managed to utter was "squish a hamster" and "spit that out!".

After that though, the day really picked up. I decided this morning that I was going to take on the challenge of photographing a water drop. I brewed a pot of hot coffee and cozied up to my computer to watch Youtube "How to"'s. Should you be interested in photographing water drops, may I suggest you watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwExpFDUC9Y




Sipping coffee and learning something fun is the best way to spend a cold winter morning. By 10 A.M I was out getting my chores done. Sweat pants for the Pixie's gym uniform and grocery shopping. My awesome buys of the day? Fluffy awesomeness in Guitar Hero pajama pants! OMD are these things rad. $7 on year end sale. I got a pair for all 3 of us. We all put them on the instant I got home.

I also got a neon yellow poster board for $.69 and a fabulous $.99 Monkey cereal bowl for my photo shoot. The Pixie LOVES the bowl and will get it once I'm done with it. By 12 P.M. she and I were back home and I was setting up for the shoot.

The BFF, who's back in town *booty dances* dropped off her spawn to be sat and she came baring gifts. It's nice to have someone in the world that gets me like she does. She knows how much I adore tacky souvenirs. This is what she brought me:

                                

Yeah, I know! Right?

After she left, I finished setting up for my shoot, while sipping hot coffee in the best mug Evva! I cabled the speedlight, set my ISO to 200, my shutter speed to 1/250 and my Aperture to 8.0. I put the speedlight on my mini-tripod and I locked the focus:

I set up for the shoot by borrowing the Pixies mirrors to reflect the light, filling the monkey bowl w/ water and star fruit, tucked the neon yellow poster board behind the bowl and started the water dripping.

Notice the blue? Yeah my white balance was totally hosed. So I took a meter reading and I was ready to spend a cold & nasty afternoon in my warm kitchen learning a thing or two.

This shot taught me that all the set up in the world don't help

IF YOU DON'T FOCUS!

This would have been the BEST photo of the day were it in focus

This one taught me when trying to photograph water

Timing is KING

This is the ONLY in focus drop I caught all day

Here I learned to be flexible

I decided just to have some fun with the monkey bowl

I never did get the shot I wanted but I learned a lot

I also had so much fun it should have been illegal

To see all the shots of the day click here

Today I'm grateful for:

Monkey bowls. Best .99 I've spent in a long time.

Fluffy man pants. Totally fluffy clearance sale awesomeness.

learning something and having fun. You're never to old to spend an afternoon just having a blast and playing with water. The biggest thing I've learned is that even if you never get the shot you wanted, there is still fun to be had, lessons to be learned, and awesome photographs will appear.

big pink Vegas mugs. They rock dude.

hot baths. Getting naked in a meat locker sucks, but once in the tub, warmness is had. Can you say "Ahhhhhh" boys and girls?

editing fun. I only got about 40 usable shots but man did I have fun in post production.

tomorrow being Sunday. I LOVE Sundays. I know you didn't know that.

God not forgetting me. Even though, in all my fun, I forgot to say my prayers. Doh! Why is it that on the two days a week where I have all the time in the world, I always seem to forget to say my prayers? I really hate that. Lucky God's cool.

The Queen getting sprung! Soon she will be home and back with the royal duo. I know they've missed her. Jackson's doing great! He will be home before we know it! I have faith in him.

my man. He fixed my camera last night and let me play all afternoon. I love him to bits and pieces.

Ha! Just could not resist one more :)

Friday 10 Future Gratitude

Whooohooo! It’s Friday!

The hamster slept all night. No pissing, puking or nose licking. He even let me get in my precious 8 minutes of snooze time! I think the real Roy got abducted by aliens but I don’t care! My hamster is a goooood boy! OH, and I discovered he will sell his soul to the devil for a bit of hotdog. I got him to pee outside, sit, stay, walk on the leash and come, all while he was transfixed by a sliver of weenie. Good Hamster!

I am grateful today for:

Oprah calling. She called to invite me to talk about my book on her final show. She thinks I rock

Getting a raise. I am now working for bliss AND green. It's a great day at Heth Realty, Inc.

Getting paid for a photograph. Told you that grasshopper was gold!

our mountain vacation. Our 2010 vacation was the best yet. We took the Pixie with us and we had awesome quality time in vacation form. Our little Garden Pixie just LOVED it. Being there with our favorite vacation couple and our daughter made this one of the best times of our lives.

housetraining the hamster. *insert angels singing*

new adventures

our 25th wedding anniversary.

Dad finding a job

Mom telling Bracewell & Giuliani where they can stick it. She's worked for them for 22 years as of September 2007. She's given them enough of her soul.

more of the same. Today I'm grateful for my life just as it is. It's more than I deserve, and just what I need. If I have more of this from here to the end of my life, I will be one incredibly blessed woman.

Edit: I just got word that my Mothers BFF Marty Anderson of Virginia lost her battle with Cancer this morning. I ask my friends to send good vibes, wishes of comfort, prayers and chants to her family and my mother. My poor mommy's heart is broken.

Oprah digs it.

What you can do with your left over turkey & Ham - Friday Gratitude

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I have about 946 lbs of leftover ham and turkey. I also have a crap load (crap load is 1/2 a butt wad) of zucchini bread and pies but I never have to worry about those. Each year, just as I'm ready to indulge in more pie I find those leftovers have disappeared. The turkey & ham however, well, you can only have so many sandwiches. Over the years, I have discovered 2 VERY good recipes for leftovers. My family loves them, they use up a LOT of leftovers and, if your in the unenvious position of having family staying a few days AFTER the holiday, these can serve up to 12 or be split in half and frozen for later.

Turkey leftovers:

Puff Pastry-Topped Turkey Pie

1 package (17.3) oz frozen puff pastry (personally I use the shells. 1 per serving)

1 egg, beaten

6 tsb butter

4 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced (2 cups)

2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)

1 cup flour

1 carton (32-oz) chicken broth

3 cups half and half

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 bags (1lb each) green giant frozen mixed vegetables, thawed & drained

6 cups bite-sized pieces cooked turkey

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1) cook puff pastry according to directions, set aside

2) in 4-quard Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onions in butter 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned. Stir in flour until no lumps remain. Slowly add broth, 1/2 & 1/2, and wine, stirring constantly. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

4) stir in mixed vegetables, chicken, tarragon, salt, pepper; cook 2-3 minutes longer or until hot. Removed from heat. Spoon about 1 1/4 cups chicken mixture into soup place and top with section of puff pastry, or spoon over puff pastry shell.

1 serving: Calories 6-- (calories from fat 310) total fat 35g (saturated fat 14g) Cholesterol 165mg, sodium 790mg; total carbohydrate 41g (dietary fiber 5g; sugars 7g); Protein 30g

Ok, so it's NOT good for you but it is GOOOOD. This is our dinner for tonight.

Ham Leftovers:

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups green split peas

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large leek, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, halved

1 herb bouquet*

1 large ham bone

Salt and Pepper

Optional garnish - small toasted croutons

*Herb Bouquet: Tie 3 cloves garlic, 4 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, 8 sprigs parsley in washed cheesecloth.

Method

1 Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain peas. Place in a 4 quart pan with the vegetables, herb bouquet, ham hocks and 2 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a simmer. Skim the scum off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise. Cover loosely and simmer about 1 1/2 hours, or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally in case they stick to the bottom of the pan.

2 Remove bones, and herb bouquet from soup, discard. Either purée through a vegetable mill, or purée in a food processor and then pass through a sieve. Correct seasoning. (wanna know my family secret here? When I mill the soup, I add 1 8 oz block of cream cheese. This thickens and flavors it to dreamy perfection. I also take some leftover ham and cube it, then throw it in after the blending. Gives the soup a nice texture. Shhhh, don't tell anyone OK? It's our secret)

3 Reheat, taste again for seasoning. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with croutons

NONE of this is good for you but hey, the holidays is a diet free zone. Use common sense, don't eat 3 bowls, lay off the bread and pies and you'll be just fine. Er, I hope....

Today I'm grateful for:

God. Every item on every list comes directly from him. I am grateful beyond measure.

getting to serve my church. They have given me so much over the last year, I'm glad I can finally give back. I get to lead the 2 year old class! This is gonna be so much fun! I have not taught in years. I hope I can blow the rust off old "Miss Beth"

a happy, fun and successful Thanksgiving. The BFF and I fed 12 people with enough leftovers to feed a small Baltic republic. The BFF's mom came to the rescue of a gravy disaster and my perfect pecan pie tasted as good as it looked. The man dubbed it "the best ever". Oh, and my house is STILL clean. So much to be thankful for.

puddles and piles outside where they belong. The hamster is having a very good holiday. He had 1 1/2 accident this morning but that was all on me. It was freakin cold and I let him go in before he was done. Bad trained human!

fresh flowers. This is the first time in a very long time that I've had fresh flowers in my house. The BFF's mom brought me a centerpiece and it's BEAUTIFUL. *sighs* It's been a LONG time since someone brought me flowers.

holiday left over recipes. Thank GOD I know what to do with all of this. My freezer will be well stocked by the end of the weekend.

3 days off still to go. Today is all about sitting on my bum and doin nothin. *sits*

getting some good shots of Roy. It's about damn time!

My pretty flowers

My pretty hamster

Saturday Gratitude

Today I'm grateful for:

Kelly's new house. It's freakin awesome man! She has been looking, worrying and stressing for months now. She finally has a house. It's the best of the bunch too! Yeah for Kelly!

the man liking the house across the street from Kelly's. It's the 3 car garage that did it }:)

Kent closing on his house. My Kelly FINALLY made a OB appointment. I pray with all my heart the baby is OK. I'll trade in Steve, Sally AND Roxie for a healthy baby.

Keeping my goals small. Goal 1, ride the stationary beast Monday Morning. One goal at a time, one step at a time and I will make it to my big goal.

coming in 2nd from last in a bike race. It seems the one I wanted to race in has been cancled or changed. I can no longer find the information on it but this will not stop me. By fall of next year I will find one, enter one, and complete my goal. I have 100% confidence in myself. I KNOW I can do it.

girls night out. We are gonna get some AWESOME photos, have a great dinner and sterling conversation.

the REAL film camera to play with. It's gonna be so much fun! Thanks Kelly! I promise not to drop it in the fountain. *crosses heart*

My mother in law sounding so damn good. She sounds like an entirely new woman. God is good.

the basics. Having God, my health, my family, our jobs, some money in the bank, our house, and my man. THESE are the things I'm truly grateful for. Everything else on this list and any other will always be secondary to these. As long as I have these, I am blessed beyond measure.

A fountain at Betsy Ross's house. Oh hush, I like it.