Blog Clean-up…

Yay for updated blog headers before halfway through the next year! =) LOL. I don’t know what my problem is…to be so on top of things like that. Hahahaha.

Speaking of cleanup, the old slow-mo computer is cleaned…it’s not completely wiped and fresh, because it’s so old and problematic that it won’t even let us completely reformat it…..BUT. It’s cleaner than it was…and running faster…so I can work with that until we get around to upgrading again.

And while I was updating and cleaning, I found the last four headers:
OH my. =)

Yes…I decided to revisit 2011’s design. =)

And look how the kids have grown….WOW. It doesn’t seem like 2011 was that long ago.

Anyway, this wraps up my gearing up for another year. Hope you’re more ready than I am…LOL!

Home Stretch

Ohhhhh….I’m so close. I know I haven’t been back for a couple of weeks, but the end of the semester is killing me. I am wrapping up the last photo session I did, and I’ll get it burned to a cd so I can relax….for about 18 hours. Then I’ll have ANOTHER photo session to work up. Thankfully, this is my last one before Christmas, and this one isn’t wanting the pictures for Christmas cards, so it’s not a super rush job. But wow. I have been SO busy.

Half of MY Christmas cards are mailed, but I still have to address and mail the second half plus the church ones. I have one final exam on Tuesday and one final exam on Wednesday, but all my project assignments are in. (YIPPEEEE) Next semester is registered, but I get a nice nice nice break in between. Like…22 days. WOW! Hahaha. I might be a little bit excited. I only have three days left of this semester and one of them is the class Christmas party so it’s really high up on the easy day scale. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Only thing is, by the time I get to the end of the tunnel, it’s going to be Christmas and I’m NOT ready for that. I still have two gifts to make, several gifts to purchase, and cooking….um. yeah.

I think my slow little computer is finished with the exporting of pictures in Lightroom, so I’m going to go finish up that photo session now.

Hopefully over Christmas break, I can talk KC into wiping my computer clean and starting over from scratch so it will work at a reasonable 21st century rate of speed again. We’ll see. I’m sure by the time I get back around to posting again, I’ll know one way the other. LOL.

Later.

When It Rains

Well, if you’re in New York, you might have a whole lot of snow when it rains. Around here though, it’s right above the snow point. I don’t see the point of cold weather if there’s no white stuff. So around here, when it rains, it just pours.

I actually was talking about the old saying, not so much actual weather but it made me think of the NY snowpocalypse when I typed it so there I went.

I don’t have ADHD…much. LOL.

I’m trying to do 5000 things at one time right now so I’m failing miserably at all of them. But I got one of my homework assignments done at school today and I am so proud of my work that I just wanted to pop on and share. I loved this project.

This is the assignment

OBJECTIVE:
Using the text from a poem or song, create an image that illustrates and interprets as well as includes the text. The image that you create should be a personal reflection of you and what this particular text means to you. The image will be a constructed image and must contain and utilize:

o At least 7 different sources and layers. The sources can include, but are not limited to: photos, digital imagery, drawings, sketches, paintings, etc. The different sources should be combined in such a way as to create a cohesive, single image. The source images must be yours and cannot be copyrighted material. Layers must be labeled.

o At least two layer mask

o At least one adjustment layer

o layer blending modes

o layer styles

o filters – labeled in the layers palette

o text layers- minimum of 3

And this is my project:

Ooh I just like it. Fun, fun, fun.

Anyways. It would help my miserable multi-tasking if this poor overloaded computer would work faster. It’s like a dinosaur at the moment because I have clogged up all the free space. *sigh* 

So now I have quit blogging and get back to editing (not to mention cooking supper and laundry). I’m behind on two sessions of editing. One was a mini-session of Aunt C and one was a family session. I don’t know what it is about photography, but it seems to be all or nothing. I had nothing in October. This month, there’s eight on the calendar. Four down, four to go. And that’s not counting homework projects. Whew.

Okay….enough talking, time to get back to it. Later. =)

Oops…I Did It Again

That coming back to post some Sexy Seven D pictures just didn’t happen, did it. I just keep getting busy and busy again. LOL It doesn’t look like it’s going to get at all better until Christmas vacation…and then I’ll just be busy with different stuff. Haha.

So we took off on our yearly cruise this month…that was part of the reason for my absence. I’ve also had more homework than I can think about, which is the other reason for my absences.

For my facebook friends, these photos are old news, but I’ll post a few here anyways.

Cruise 2014 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Right now I’m working on (or trying to work on) my composite project for Digital I, but photoshop just crashed on me and my computer seems to be running at the speed of molasses. My last project was retouching and handcoloring an old, pretty much trashed photograph and that was really fun…a lot of work, but impressive results. I made an A. Woohoo. I love A’s. I hope I do as well on this next one.

Here’s that last project…I just like looking at the before and after. LOL. I guess that makes me a little bit of a nerd. Oh well.

Talk about a ton of time with the Clone Tool in Photoshop. LOL. Now I just have to create an illusion in Photoshop for my next project using all my own images….talk about zapping my creative juices. And then after that, I’ll get to design a movie poster. And this is just one of my classes. I still have work due in my other two as well.

And all that, ladies and gents, is why I’ve fallen off the face of this blog this month. Only four semesters to go. I can do this. =)

In Love Again

OH MY STARS! I have a new romance brewing…his name is Seven D. He’s not taller than me, but oh my, he is SEXY.

No, I’m not cheating on KC….KC actually bought him for me. He’s my new camera!!! *GRIN* I know. I’m not right. LOL.

I just went with a friend on a girls trip down to the beach and took lots of fun pics that were totally not for school. And now I have homework that I’m gonna be late for if I don’t get moving, but I wanted to run by and post a quick little bit while I’m waiting on that school work file to transfer into my lightroom catalog. My poor overloaded computer is getting full, so it takes a while to manage simple tasks such as file transfer.

Has nothing at all to do with the fact that I took lots of pictures with the new camera and they’re slightly larger size files and not just a few. HAHAH.

Okay thirty seconds left, I’ll come back as soon as I get a chance and post some gorgeousness from Mr. Sexy Seven D. =)

Once Upon A Time

I used to be a semi-interesting blogger. I’m not sure what happened. I was just scrolling through some ancient archives yesterday and thought…sheesh…I might need to get a real job again. Evidently my brain has turned to mush in the last few years…or else I’ve just suffered a shortage of crazy events happening to me that I can write about…or else I’m just too nice to say what I really think these days. Or maybe I’m too mean now to say what I really think…because back then, I must have been nicer since I think I said what I thought back then and it didn’t seem that bad. ROFL. Maybe nicer/meaner isn’t the word…I think I was just really innocent and naïve back then, so when I said what I really thought, it was all good because I had no idea. Now I know too much and if I said what was really on my mind, I realize it would hurt people or might be inappropriate, so I refrain; therefore blog content gets a lot skimpier because it takes way too much creative energy to figure out interesting non-controversial topics. =)

These days, all my creative energy is tied up in homework and writing endless essay answers, I guess. Hopefully one day this will all be finished, I can get a real job again, and my brain will go back to normal (or as normal as it ever can be) functioning.

As long as I don’t turn into a villain, I should eventually get my happy ending. LOL. In case you don’t watch “Once Upon A Time,” I’ve been catching up on last season before the next season starts, so all these references are due to all the mixed up fairy tales I’ve been watching while doing the ENDLESS MOUNTAIN of ironing. It makes ironing slightly more tolerable.

Speaking of intolerable things, my computer is slowly grinding to a halt. I got on this morning and thought I’d clean a few things off and start with emptying the recycle bin. When it said it was deleting 7.2 gigs of trash, I almost panicked, but I resisted and crossed my fingers that there wasn’t anything in there that shouldn’t have been deleted. I have obviously gotta get in the habit of taking out the trash more often.

Anyway, school is going okay this semester…I think I mentioned already that I’m taking 3 classes which is still considered part time. I do NOT know how the rest of the people taking full time classes manage to have jobs and lives and get all their homework done. Part time homework is enough to bog me down. Between that, working on our house (Oy-vey…it never ends), taking care of kids (and THEIR homework, which is no easy task in 3rd and 5th grades), TaiKwanDo two nights a week, being really involved with church…the list goes on…

Whew. Anyway. I’m off for now. It’s about time to head to school and I’m thinking there is something I’m forgetting to do, so I better get moving.

And she lived happily ever after. =) LOL

Do You Have Joy, REAL Joy?

So, I’ve been contemplating this topic as of a few days ago but haven’t really felt like putting it into words. I still don’t, actually, but I know if I don’t, I’ll forget.

Maybe it’s better if I forget, but I’m gonna go with not forgetting and let it fly. LOL. Fair warning, hopefully this blog won’t offend anyone but if it does, it’s not intentional, just me and my opinions.

First, when I’m referring to joy, I’m thinking of the kind of joy David talks about in Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

There’s good people in lots of different churches. And when I say good, I mean: sweet, kind, fruit-of-the-spirit-exhibiting, Christ-followers. However, after going to many different places of worship, noting what seemed to me to be a collective spirit of heaviness and lack of real joy in one place of worship and seeing the contrast of the general feeling of joyful praise and worship in another, I totally don’t get how good people could stay stuck in the former. I’m not sure if I admire or pity their gumption for sticking out such misery. Churches are so much alike in many ways, in most cases, it’s not the style of worship or the message that is so different, it’s just the overall atmosphere. And as one who grew up in the system of beliefs (not calling out any specific church, just the general way of thinking) of the former, and now gratefully experience the freedom and joyful spirit of the latter, I feel like I see much more clearly BOTH sides. There’s good and bad, right and wrong on both sides, and there are good Christians, bad Christians, and sinners on both sides. But the one thing I love is being happy serving Jesus (and working to be more like Him…yes, I’m still working…I’m totally not there yet), and being around others who feel the same way. I think there’s people who are happy, and they love and serve Jesus, but they don’t seem happy serving Jesus. Obviously, many people DON’T fall in that category, but I think when the general population of a body of people falls into that, maybe that’s a little part of what creates that lack of joy in service (worship service or general serving).

That’s just my take on it. And everyone experiences gloomy days from time to time but if you’re a constant Eeyore, well…

And something else that seems to have a direct correlation to joy: I’ve found His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And when I took up HIS yoke instead of MAN’S yoke….

Well, I found joy, real joy, wonderful joy.

Now I just have to get the rest of the fruit of the spirit growing up in my life.

Love ya, mean it. =)

Back To School

Another semester for me, another school year for the kids. I feel like I’m treading water already. Today I worked on homework. And then homework. And then….homework. LOL. Thankfully, this is only the first week for the kids, so they don’t have any real homework that they need help with yet. Good thing, too, since I’m a perfectionist and spent way too much time on my own today. LOL. I’ve got three classes this semester because I had to pick up one I missed from last semester, so I’m just 2 hours shy of full time. I don’t know how people do full time and have a life, but I might get to try that next semester, just because I’m falling behind being part time. Whew.

Today was the kiddos’ first day back. I took them to the bus stop, but after waiting 20 minutes I just figured I’d missed it and so I went back home and got the car and took them to school myself. Come to find out, it was 30 minutes late. Traffic or something. Ah well. This was while we were waiting.

They’re all big now. The is the Munchkin’s last year of elementary. Hard to believe it, but it’s true! One of these days I’ll have to cease calling her the Munchkin and give her some nickname like Teenage Drama Queen…lol. She’s almost there already. Right now it’d be PRE-TDQ. LOL.

Anyway, I have to pop in every so often (although I’m not sure anymore why I bother) but if I can just keep the ol’ blog alive until I have free time again, I guess that’ll be alright. =)

And I’m ready to call it a night. The kids are tucked in, the homework is caught up, time to walk the dogs and chill for a bit before sleepytown.

Laterz.

Mid July Already

I can’t believe how fast this year is going. I just can’t keep up at all! The kids are little fishies this year and on the swim team so between meets and practice, I haven’t had time to do much else since we’ve been back home from all our travels!

I did some senior pics a few weeks ago in the middle of all my traveling, so they kinda got lost in the shuffle, but they’re over on my photography page (image is linked).

I like this one because I had fun adding the bubbles during the editing. LOL. They look pretty natural (I think). =)

On the topic of photography, I was reminded last week that next semester in school, we’ll have to narrow down our focus to what part of photography we’re going to be shooting for (pardon the puns lol). I’m not sure what my main interest is going to be, but I really have fun with senior photos. Of course, I’d love to do travel photog (any excuse to travel, right?) but I don’t see that being something that would pay the bills. LOL. I still have a few weeks left to think about it though…I hate deciding. I feel like if I pick one thing, I’m putting myself in a box. =/ But we’ll see how it goes. I’m registered and pretty much ready for the next go around, although I do need to get my camera serviced before another semester gets started.

Fun stuff.

I’m sure there’s other stuff I could blog about, but I was in Walmart the other day and all the school supplies were out, and it got me to thinking about school. So that’s what’s on my brain today.

That’s it for now. Laterz.

San Diego Pics

Wellllllll….I finally made it back to post these. I didn’t take a terrible lot of pictures…but here’s one from instagram, one from my phone, and then an album of scenery from my big camera. 

SanDiego2014 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

An absolutely awesome trip. =) Can’t wait to go back someday. More to blog about but will leave this post alone so it will stay on topic. LOL. Later!

Unpacking Time Again

Whew. Suitcase is going to be worn out by the end of this year. I took my first solo flight (solo, as in, flying with 150 strangers but no one I knew) last week. Yeah, I did it in spite of all the nerves. I drove myself to the airport in the big city, parked, rode the shuttle to the terminal, went through security, found my gate, boarded the plane, and rode five hours non-stop to San Diego. All by my lonesome self. Last Thursday. Go me.

Had an AWESOME trip. My bag is still awaiting my unpacking efforts, but at the moment I’m working on unloading all my pictures to my computer. Here’s one of my ride home. That was my lovely ride. Only the slightest bit bumpy. =)

I got back last night about 9:30 and got the kids and dogs and settled everybody back in. Nice to be back in business.

I got to see my aunt while I was out there, but unfortunately, I didn’t remember to get any good pictures of us, just this one of us on the tour bus with my phone. =(

I think I look a lot like this aunt…we both look very italian. My mom always said I looked more like her sister (I’m not sure what all origins but with a bit of indian ancestry) and my dad’s sister (italian) than I look like my mom and dad. LOL. Maybe someday I’ll find some pictures that show why she thought that. lol. Anyway, it was so fun to visit with her and tour San Diego. What a beautiful city! I’ve got lots of pics once I get them all sorted out.

Tomorrow I have Jury Duty, which is SO not nice business, but I’m hoping it’s short and sweet and I get dismissed. HOPEFULLY. I went to the library and got a big fat book, just in case—since I can’t have my electronics in the courtroom. BOO.

Anyway, after my beautiful relaxing weekend in San Diego, I’m feeling much more relaxed and back to my normal self (in case anyone picked up on my slight case of the blues in the last few posts), although physically, I’m still a little tired from the time change stuff and the long flight days.

Oh, and I finished re-doing my headphone cord with the awesome teal thread. They look so awesome…AND they match my sunglasses. Happy coincidences! =)

For anyone who wants a pair, I have tons of leftover thread, and I can fix you right up. For only a minimal fee. LOL. Actually, KC suggested I make a few sets and sell them…I should…for all the compliments/interest I get when I wear them. =) Hahaha.

Anyway, I’m off for tonight. Will hopefully return with pictures in a day or two. =)

Lonesome

Well, I’ve puttered around today and not done a whole bunch of anything. I’m kinda lost without the family home. I forgot to mention yesterday that Munchkin is off with Mawmaw in the far off land of Ohio at a campmeeting all this week, and the boy has science camp all day every day this week, so I’ve had a little too much time to think, since life doesn’t speed up and get crazy for me again until Thursday. I don’t know how other people do it.

I don’t know if I mentioned that the Munchkin left before I got home from the mission trip, so all together, I won’t see her for two solid weeks! I kinda miss the little booger. ;) lol.

I keep thinking I can’t wait till they grow up and go to college but now I think I might just be sad about that. hahaha.

I really should go do laundry or ironing but first I think I’ll see if I can redo my headphone décor since the yarn I did the original knotting with has gotten pretty frayed. =) Mine sorta looks like the picture over there right now, only with a different type of knot and gray yarn. It works great, no tangles, but now I’ve got some awesome teal nylon thread I’m going to redo them in. =) And maybe I’ll listen to some music while I’m working…get some chill time in before everything kicks back into high gear again. LOL. =)

Well, that's it for now. Later!

Persevering

I don’t even know when I last posted. But I think I’ve been swamped ever since the last post. No joke.

I mentioned that my suitcase is getting a workout, I just got back from a week in Oklahoma (just outside OKC) on a mission trip with a team from church to help in the rebuilding effort after the tornado. It was an incredible trip. Parts of it I wouldn’t want to repeat, but overall, it was wonderful! Our team rebuilt several fences (or parts of fences), laid tile, installed lighting/fans, did some yard work, and other things I can’t recall right at the moment. I got to know a few people just a little bit better, we got stranded on the way out when our van’s transmission died, some of us played a few card games in the evenings, there were some sunburns and lots of sweat, and overall, just an interesting trip.

June has been insane just like I thought it was going to be though. So far, I’ve spent a week preparing for our yard sale, then had a yard sale, then went on a mission trip, then took some senior pictures, and it’s only half over. Whew. I’m exhausted. Exhausted isn’t such a good thing either. The other day I was so tired, it was like I was drunk and I lost all the filters on my brain and said something I totally shouldn’t have said. Nothing exactly bad, just repeated in the wrong company. I’m still praying that no one heard me or caught that. That’s the last thing I need right now.

One of the good things about not posting very frequently is that a lot of people don’t drop by to read me anymore, so I can feel free to say more of what I’m thinking. LOL. Obviously, I’ll still keep most of my mental filters on since it is still a public blog, but it might take just a bit more of a turn toward being a personal journal. LOL.

So on a personal note, I’ve been a bit down for the last couple of days…just events and junk that’s really bothered me and got me down, but today was really nice. I’ve stayed busy so I wouldn’t think too much, and it seemed like every song on the radio was so appropriately encouraging. That’s just awesome. I don’t know yet if all the situations have worked themselves out completely, but at least for the moment, I’ve got a little more peace about it. 

Well, I think the kid is back home from science camp, so I’ll chat more later I guess. =)

Stuffed to the Gills

#1 – my belly…

And on that topic, let me just say that it’s a skinny girl problem that when you gain a few pounds and it’s pretty much only noticeable by you, you really don’t get to talk much about how you need to work out and get that jiggle back off, because everybody just hates you. No, I’m not fat, but when I gain ten pounds (and I have), I feel it just like everybody else does. I’m smiling. =) So. I ran that 5K back a couple posts ago (or a couple months, but who’s counting) and I survived. I even ran a few miles a couple mornings in the following weeks. Then I kinda fell off again. BUT…a couple of us girls get together and walk anywhere from 2.5 to 4 miles through town a couple of days a week, so that’s something. And then I thought that was good enough but the jiggle wasn’t going away, so when we girls were talking, my friend was telling us how she had started doing a Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video on YouTube and it was killing her even though she didn’t think she was in that bad of shape…

Yep. I decided to try it. And…I’m not in shape either. Holy sha-moly, my abs and legs are KILLING me. I’m on like day 3 and the jiggle is getting better already. But then I sort of ate at a buffet tonight. And now….oh my belly. I’ll be good again tomorrow. =) =) Here’s a picture I forgot to share from a few weeks back when we were at this same buffet for the Munchkin’s TENTH birthday! Oh my. And yes, she has one candle and zero more candles…that stands for 10.  hahahahaha

Before I move on…today was my first Dr Pepper in like, weeks! I am so proud of me. It’s only my 53rd time quitting. ROFL.

#2 – my suitcases

Okay, they’re not stuffed to the gills right this moment, but they are sure getting a work out in May/June. So far in May, I’ve went along with Munchkin’s fourth grade class to the Outer Banks on a school field trip and then to Myrtle Beach with my family. My friends on FB have probably already seen most of the pictures in this post, including this one, but I’ll share here anyway. =)

This one is from our family trip to Myrtle. I didn’t take a ton of pics on this trip…I was too busy trying to recover from the terrible awful field trip chaperoning the week before…haha.

Here’s a couple of pics from the chaperoning weekend…

On the bus:
During the 45 minutes of beach time we got for the entire trip…lol.

And a couple from Munchkin’s camera:

#3 – this blog post

Because that’s what happens when you don’t post frequently enough to update everything in a couple of small paragraphs. LOL.

And here’s where I just jam everything else in:

Father-in-law wanted his antique crosscut saw painted, so I painted it for him for Father’s Day…gave it to him tonight. =) I think he liked it. It looks cooler in person than in pictures, but it was a pretty fun project.

I finally cleaned the kitchen up really nice and took pictures to compare to the before pictures of this project… (in case it’s not obvious, the second ones are the AFTER photos…lolol)

My last studio lighting project for school. Food photography…totally fun!!

And I think that’s PLENTY for one post. I’d promise to come back more often, but June is INSANELY booked, so I better not promise NOTHIN. LOL.

If you’re still here, still reading, wow, you’re awesome. Have a lovely evening!! =)

Don’t Know How

Another month has escaped me (and my blog). LOL. I don’t know how it happens, but it just keeps doing it. Ugh.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say. I’ve been working like crazy on school stuff and trying to stay on top of home and kids and schedules. Another thing I haven’t figured out is how in the world mom’s do this and work…or homeschool…or anything. Sheesh.

Another kid is getting glasses. K-man doesn’t have quite as bad of vision as the Munchkin but still needs a little help in the vision department. Joy. He’s super cute with glasses though, just like she is.

Speaking of she, she’s been off the charts lately. Enough to be getting in trouble at school again. For such a smart kid, she doesn’t seem to make the smartest choices. =/ This too shall pass. This too shall pass. <---that’s me, talking to myself again. LOL.

Shoo.

So anyway, the kids have loved my semester project for one of my classes because I’ve had to visit several parks to find what I was looking for…lol. My project was to pick a theme and then find letters of the alphabet in my theme. So I picked “Found on Playgrounds” and we had to go hang out at several of those while mom was looking for her letters. LOL. (And thank you, Jules, for the theme idea when I was drawing blanks…lol)

Here’s what I’m planning to turn in…

The letter “F” earned me a nice knot on the head, too…I had to crawl underneath a platform and I miscalculated the distance when I reversed back out….lolol. Clocked myself real good and had to sit down for a few minutes to recover. Only me. =0

I think it turned out alright but I found enough flaws, that I’m sure the instructor will have to count off points for at least a few of them. Oh well. Just gotta get through this semester.

And that’s it for today. Don’t know if I’ll be back before another month passes or not…haha. We’ll see.

One Month Later

All my efforts at more regular updates just kinda blew out the window. UGH. LOL.
It’s been crazy busy (story of my life…seriously), and it’s not that I don’t have time to blog, it’s just that I have so much on my brain that I just totally shut down and can’t get myself in gear to do ANYTHING.
Unfortunately, I signed up for a Get Your Rear In Gear 5K this Saturday, so I am REALLY hoping the weather warms up a bit for me to practice getting my rear in gear….I’ve never done a 5K before…I may be walking instead of running. LOL.
Homework is really killing me right now, too. This week’s assignment is Night Photography…and the professor is looking for spookiness…I’m not really sure what I’m going to come up with for this one. Has to be better than last week though. Last week was a Conceptual Photo and boy howdy I was stumped. Because last week was really crazy, it got put off and then it rained and I just had to pull something together at the very last minute.

Not my favorite assignment, but it was fun to play with legos (in a grown up sort of way) for a few minutes…hahaha. And it was kinda fun photographing, too…lol.
I also did this one, which I liked better but didn’t use it because after I thought about it, it would have fit the concept better if the odd guy had been in the middle or end of the line. LOL. Ah well.

There’s a little of this and that. Lots of other stuff I could talk about, but gotta run for now.

White Flaky Stuff

Not dandruff! LOL

So yea…we got snow! A lot actually. Wildness, because we hardly ever get that much white at once! It was pretty awesome!

Except that it really messed up my brain with the time warp of extra Saturdays in the middle of the week (days in which there was no work/school, when there should have been = time warp Saturdays).

Thankfully, the one bill that was almost late because my errand day got snowed out and my days were mixed up, wasn’t AcTUALLY late after all, since I was able to get it there on the next business day after the due date. Gotta love it when that happens. YAY.

Looks like Obi feels the same, huh?

Here’s a few more pictures for my non-facebooker friends. =)

Sniff sniff.

Fun while it lasted. Although, thanks to everyone being home for extra Saturdays, everybody got sidetracked on their chores and our house went from House Beautiful to Disaster Survival. Yuck. I tried to start picking it back up this afternoon, but it was too heavy, so I put it back down. ;-P

In other news, I am exhausted. I had really bad dreams last night that kept me awake from 3:30 until 6 and really irritated the fire out of me…on multiple levels. I took a nap after school, but it doesn’t feel like it was enough.

But I’ll survive. I’ve got some yummy italian chicken in the crockpot making the house smell fantastic, I did alright on my last few homework assignments, the kids have two snow makeup days—instead of being off and me having to find childcare for those days, and I heard that my last week’s missed class assignments might just get crossed off instead of made up. It’s all good.

I Hate Being Right

LOL…it’s been a few days since I posted. I got the strep. I hate being right. I called my doc as soon as my throat started hurting and asked if he’d call me in an antibiotic without needing to come in and get a throat swab since someone in my house just had strep. He did, and it didn’t take long to knock it out. Unfortunately, mom’s don’t really get sick days, and I couldn’t afford to miss any classes because you never know when I’ll have to stay home with a kid again, so I had to time my laying around/sleeping bit around my other obligations. JoY.

News, news…let’s see. Since I last posted, we hired a friend to put recessed lighting in the kitchen, so the big brass monstrosity is bye-bye. We’re working on patching up the off center holes where those old lights were, and we have two more outlets to change out, and then: WHOO---it’ll be time for another “after” photo. I can’t WAIT to post that one! It is INCREDIBLE!

I need to finish my last homework piece for class tomorrow, but this one involved taking photos and I just was NOT feeling inspired this weekend. Hopefully I got them decent enough to get me a good grade. =/ *sigh* If only my creative self would get on the schedule when I need it. LOL. So anyway, I gotta go get those photos ready for turning in so away I go…just wanted to post SOMETHING since it’s been a little while….

And because I just love my dog, here’s a picture of him for fun…

This was right after I picked up a stick, so he is eagerly waiting for me to throw it. LOL.

Figures

Uhmmm…I think you had it right in your comment, Ryan…my last post SHOULD have been “Ugh, BLEACH, and Ew.” Lol. I obviously didn’t do my part on the bleach.

Little dude recovered…I thought we were safe. But no….today he didn’t sound quite right when he was reading and his throat sounded a little swollen. So I took him to the doc just to be on the safe side…

Strep.

Nice.

He has impeccable timing. The only days he gets sick are the on the THREE days a week when I have class. Four other days to get sick on, so that I can stay home and keep him from infecting anyone else, but those four days just don’t work for him. UGH.

And my throat doesn’t feel right tonight either…whatcha wanna bet he gave it to me and I’ll come down with it in a couple of days…on my next class day.

Pardon my little vent and whine…just needed to get that off my chest.

I think I might put myself to bed right after I tuck the kids in bed in about 20 minutes. I really might. =//

*sigh*

Ugh, Blech, and EW

This was NOT in my plans for today. I think it’s a conspiracy....between the dogs, the cat, and the boy-child, I've cleaned up 9+ puke/hairball/backside excretions that didn't make it to the appropriate receptacles, listened to the lovely sounds of upchucks at least seven times, and had to endure the smell for at least an hour total between the occurrences and the cleanups...and that's just in the last 8 hours.

Conspiracy is working...I feel very queasy.

No fever, no signs of sickness (other than incessant vomiting), and everything was just fine last night…until like 1:30am.

And then it was on like Donkey Kong. All at once.

And go figures that KC would be out of town and miss all this fun. I just hope he doesn’t bring back another plague like the last time he came home from a business trip. He and I and K-man were out for days with that one. The Munchkin keeps getting passed over in the sicknesses…I told her she was just too ornery to get sick. Lucky dog…I’m going to have to up my own ornery-ness. LOL.

And there’s your super lovely peek at what’s going on in my world today. Now I have to go see if I can get online and work on any of my schoolwork from home since I had to miss class today. =(

Also laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. =/

House Photos #1

HEY LOOK….I’m overcoming a little more perfectionist-isms every day!

We got these two rooms detailed enough for after photos today, so I thought I’d share some before and afters. I LOVE before and afters. =)

First up: The old family room turned master bedroom suite:

More pictures of the other side of the new master bedroom and bathroom:

Then there is the original living room:

To the new and improved:


And remember that hallway I posted earlier…there it is again. This is the view from a little farther back. =)

And of course, to be continued…we ran out of energy hanging things today, so the finishing décor isn’t done on those other rooms down there. =) But it will come…=)

And a very special thank you to Aunt C. She gets credited for at least 75% of our décor, thanks to her always giving us first dibs on her yard sale stuff! =) She has the best yard sale stuff ever! =)

Anyway, that’s it for tonight…laterz.