Glorious Fall

We skipped dance class tonight. I'm tired, the weather is amazing, and I wanted to go outside and play for a while. So we raked leaves and took in one of the last decent weather days, I'm sure. That's the bad thing about Michigan. You know your nice days are numbered.

Headed to MSU to take Em to lunch yesterday. She survived truning 21. And I can sleep again.

Have a terrific Monday!

A Saturday of . . .

taking Jenna to the Dr. for her double ear infection, teaching Photoshop Elements, napping (glorious), editing and delivering pictures, going to the Nature Center (brrrr.....), then visiting family, playing with a kitty, and having pizza. Ah, Saturday. Busy, yet fun.

Happy Birthday to my baby at midnight tonight. She'll be 21. I love you, my girl. Be smart!!!

Photos on Thursday

And uploaded by Grey's Anatomy! God, I'm good!

Head over to my photo blog to see more.

It's Fall!

Here are a few photos from a quick shoot after school. I LOVE FALL. It was a little cold, and you can still see Miss J's black eye. But we went searching for colors and found quite a few. Last year I saw swans at this location and was hoping to see them again. All photos using my 85 mm 1.8 lens. I'm still learning it . . . sometimes I am truly disappointed in my pics but I was happy today. Practice, practice, practice, right? Worked a little with backlighting and loved the yellow glow.

Is this thing on?

It's been another marathon week for me. I swear, I am so busy it hurts. Let's see.

Monday? School, Dr.'s office then to x-ray since Jen's eye swelled up again. (No fracture, but the Dr. felt that she probably shouldn't have played soccer on Saturday. OOPS!) Then off to dance.

Tuesday? School, then out to dinner with the ladies from Central. I miss teaching with them, but I'm grateful we keep in touch.

Wednesday? School, then shopping for birthday presents, for the Lia Sophia Party, and for party supplies for the weekend. Also spent 3 hours learning the new version of Photoshop Elements 5.0 for my class on Saturday.

Thursday? School, then hosted a Lia Sophia party for Em. Had quite a few guests, and had fun. In the middle of the party got a call from the owner of the camera shop saying he had puchased Elements 6 for the class rather than version 5.0. Guess what? I don't know it! Finished my handouts for my Saturday class.

Friday? School, then off to a Friday night crop where I needed to finish my 3 PC projects that were due on Tuesday. I've never been late in two years, and I had to ask for an extension. Got them done, and worked on two November layouts for SS.

Saturday? Taught Elements from 9-12, then home to get ready to host a birthday party for Em, Jami and Scott. It was easy and we had fun overall.

Today? Exhausted. Went grocery shopping, did laundry, and took the girls to the Nature Center for a few pics. It was the perfect fall day, and to be honest, I was too tired to enjoy it. Feel guilty for that! Now it's preparing for the week. I need a vacation from my life, for sure.

Have a great week! I know it's another busy one for me. My goal is to get out and shoot some great pics and enjoy the fall colors. I haven't done enough of that, and I'm already feeling guilty.

Homecoming

for my niece today. Got to the dinner at her house a little late, and it was getting dark, but got some cool shots of her and her friends. They had so much fun together and laughed constantly. It was a mix of boys and girls, some with dates and some just going as friends. We were talking about how "back in the day" if you weren't asked to the dance you didn't go. Groups of friends weren't allowed. We've come a long way, baby!

Another week o' fun

It was another busy week, but a good one overall. Let's see. Last weekend started with a trip to the Dr. for Jenna. Thank goodness they have Saturday a.m. hours because she was starting another ear infection. The problem was her allergies, and they were flaring because of the abnormally hot fall we were having. She missed her soccer game, which she was really upset about. She asked me, "mom, how am I going to score goals if I'm not at the game?" True dat, my competitive one. She perked up quickly once on the meds.

I had promised Chris that I would take some senior pictures. So my sister and I walked around downtown Saturday (in the sweltering heat, drinking hot coffee of course) and tried to scope out some outdoor settings that had the look of a city, or urban setting. Chris wanted solid-color or textured backgrounds. So I met him late afternoon with Jami and Maggi and we did the shoot. I think we got some really good shots, and I am learning with every session I do. Sunday I proofed some of the photos and spent some time with Bill and Jenna at a pumpkin farm. It was so hot though that is wasn't much fun. Plus she wasn't feeling all that well still. The weekend went SO FAST!

This week was busy as well. Monday dance, Tuesday grocery store, Wednesday to wait in line for computers for my sister and niece, Thursday soccer and photo club, and last night the homecoming parade, then to the coffee shop with my sisters, Emily who was in town for the day, and my niece, then off to a local pub with my math girls. WHEW. I went to bed last night at 9:00. How sad is that? I was hoping the triple espresso after school would keep me awake, but no go.

Did you notice Jen's shiner? It's a good one. She went on a field trip at school on Wednesday and a student ran into her in a corn maze. I about threw up when I saw it. I don't take seeing my girls in pain well AT ALL. I remember when Emily needed stitches on her chin when she was about the same age as Jenna and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown in the ER. I called my SIL who worked in the ER to drive over to help. Yep, I'm a strong one! The picture is one where Alison and I were trying out her studio lights. Wow, do I have a lot to learn. But we're getting there!

I just finished the book The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. Wow. Surprising. There were so many things that sort of bugged me about the premise of the book, like a connection between now and characters of the book The Great Gatsby which I thought was a stretch. But the way it turned out was really unexpected. I don't know if I loved it. But it was different and surprised me, which can be hard to do.

Another busy weekend planned. More later!

Some more pictures of Chris

Chris wanted another photo shoot for a portfolio, and yesterday we walked around downtown and I got some pics. Check out my photo blog for more!

What Up?

So under duress, I'm blogging tonight. One of my two faithful blog readers pressured me into posting, even though my life is extremely small and boring right now and I have nothing to say. I have GOT to get a life. Seriously.

Let's see. My uncle Hank died last week. He's actually my dad's uncle, but was like a grandpa to me. He and my Aunt Edith were my Godparents. The showing was Thursday, and the funeral on Friday. He was 97 years old. Can you believe it? And in really good health up until the last few years. They were married for 71 years. That's a lifetime! It was more like a celebration of life, but still sad. I'm not one of those accepting people that finds solace in death. I hate goodbyes. Really hate them. Em came home for the funeral and showing so we got to hang out. And it's nice to see family, even under these circumstances.

Slow weekend. Bill took off to a conference so I was single-momming it until yesterday. It is seriously warm outside so Jen and I have been exploring outdoors. The pic is from the Nature Center on Sunday. She gets so sassy in those boots, I tell ya! She's sassy anyways . . . who am I kidding?

Allergies are kicking my butt, but I've found a temporary solution. I'm taking a double dose of Allegra, on the diagnosis of Dr. Kay. As Elaine knows, I'm a fan of the medication. And I am feeling better.

OK, off to watch Private Practice. I'm digging the new fall shows! (Did I mention I'm in desperate need of a life?) In scrapping news, I made the October Newsletter at PageMaps. It is such a cool site, with awesome sketches. Perfect for the time/creatively impaired. Also, had my first article at ScrapSupply. It's such a cool team! I'm having a blast.

OK, signing off.

Peace out!