Okay, my pictures are backward in order (Sunday, then Saturday, and last Friday). And I don't know how to add captions....
We're spending our last night in a real bed, in New York, before we head over to Maine for some pretty camping. This has been a great vacation!!!
I was awoken this morning at 6:30 by the sound of rain. Because I left my clothes on the line. Because I hung them at 10:00 at night. In the top two photos I tried changing the white balance. So I now understand (somewhat!) aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I'm moving to white balance now.
The clothes aren't soaking wet but they are pretty damp!!!
My mind is in mild turmoil this morning, spurned by the fact that an organic apple I bought last week was grown in Chile. This surprised me because I want to buy local and I thought I was buying local. How silly of me to assume because my apples are organic, they are also local. Local apples in May.... really??? Since I became a freakish environmentalist a few years ago and a vegetarian last year, I've become much more aware of the impact humans have on our planet. Call me a hippie but I'm really not. I just want to buy things people near me have grown or raised in order to support them and their environmentally sound farming/animal practices. I'd rather support the farmer down the road than the farmer I don't know in Chile. Is that wrong? I wonder.
Last night I snapped at J because he had the audacity to comment that "this was SO good" when 'this' was a piece of cake made from a boxed cake mix. I did apologize later for that!!! I've recently started hating convenience, processed foods. Certainly I've been stuck up about them for a while now but it became full blown this year. We went to Panera for dinner last night and threw away cups, napkins, a spoon, and sandwich wrappers. We were given food on reusable plates and bowls so that was good. But if everyone in the US throws this much away in just one meal a day, that adds up to a lot. We are so careless with our waste, buying pre-made dinners that we eat and then we discard the container without a thought. If I want a loaf of bread, I throw away the bag it came in. Ice cream containers go in the trash can as well. Pizza boxes, egg cartons, lunch meat bags. Wow, I am so irate.....
I recycle everything I can but most of my friends and family don't. And I don't want to press the issue since of course that can be annoying for them to listen to!! I buy potted pants for my garden and wonder what to do with the containers, then save them for planting next year's seeds. I don't buy processed foods hardly. I try very hard but wonder if I am the only one doing this. I wonder if it is too important to me. God is in charge. I can leave it in God's hands. I do what I can and trust He will take care of things. But maybe he wants me to do more? Maybe I'm not doing enough? Why do people treat His creation with such carelessness? Where do they think chemicals used to grow their food goes? The trash they simply set by the curb each week?
I must be positive now:)
I have a girl best friend that I used to talk to a few times each week. We'd call each other and talk every couple of days. Now J is my best friend. Not a very good one at times simply because he is a man and can't understand "why the heck did that upset her?" or "what the freak? Why is she so emotional about this!?!". Now I talk to my girl BF only a couple times a month though we still spend a weekend together every month of two. Kind of makes me sad how things have changed naturally. Now poor J has to deal with this kind of sporadic complaining and ranting!!!
I like living in Indiana. My big sis complains about it and is always wanting to move because it is too hot or too cold. I think winter is a wonderful idea (way to go, God!). Winter is a a time for reflecting and contemplating, a time for looking forward to spring. I wish winter was shorter maybe but to not have it would unthinkable!!! I could not love summer and spring as much as I do without having to live through seemingly unending days of snow and freezing cold. I love the boiling days of summer that wrap you in heat and sweat since they are the opposite of bitterly cold nights huddled under blankets, shivering. Without sadness, would we appreciate happiness as much? Without happiness to look forward to, would we be able to emerge from sorrow? Without my complaining, would you love my silence as much?!?!
My garden is growing, the birds are singing, and the grass is green. There is a red Columbine flower poking out among the pink ones and the clematis flowers climbing on my fence are turning toward the sunny sky. Someday I'll live in the country where I can grow blueberries and strawberries.
That's what I've got, ladies and gents. I've been asked not to walk on my metetarsalagia-ed foot unless it is unavoidable. For the next week. Allow me to be sad for a moment because this is what the next week holds: crazy kids, field day (my absolute favorite day of the school year), a lovely weekend, Memorial Day, crazy kids, picnic and kite day, and the last day of school.
There. Now I am done.
Right now J is in the kitchen singing about some cupcakes my friend Kaycie made. Apparently sugar turns him on tonight!! He's so weird. Yesterday he walked through the living room and kitchen carrying the weed wacker because it was shorter than going around the house and through the gate. Last weekend, after working on the car, he wiped engine grease off his hands with tissues. The other day he wiped the table with his hands.
I think I am getting irritable for too many little things and need to shut up!!!! J is a wonderful husband:) Boy, I'm sweet tonight!!!!
Pic info: My sister's violin, a spider my brother told me to photograph w/ his macro lens, my Mac and rock candy.
So there's a pic of me now, with short hair. And there's one of me 3 years ago, with long hair. I'm growing it out now because for some really odd reason I think I should have long hair when I have my first kid. I don't really know why....
I really liked that jacket I was wearing in the second pic. I borrowed it from Summer and very much wanted to 'long term borrow' it. It was the perfect jacket.... Sigh....
J and I went to Buca de Beppo's tonight for dinner because we had a coupon. We both agreed it was a bit yucky and decided we would stick to our nice locally owned restaurants from now on, even if we don't have coupons. What a horrible salad!!! And it is hard to mess up salad!!!
I gave blood today. Anyone want to see the bloody gauze I just pulled off my arm? Anyone? I think I will go throw it in J's face. And yes, sometimes I am that immature. But as with the hair, things will change next year. When children arrive, I will cease to be this self-centered and silly. I will be wise and have a firm grasp on reality. I solemnly swear I will.
This is a pile of books I am reading/will read sitting on my desk. Pretty intimidating!!! Summer is just around the corner though!! My current read is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I'm loving it! Can't wait until we get a bigger house and land so my garden will be more than a corner of a tiny yard!
Sitting and listening to The Killers. I really need to be cooking dinner; it's my turn but HELLO GIRLS AND BOYS, EVERYONE MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!! J is always a little thrown off when I turn this part of one of their songs WAY UP and scream-sing and headbang. Who couldn't though? Seriously, how could you go wrong with a song titled: NEON TIGER. Seriously. This has been my favorite band since last summer. Before that it was Belle and Sebastian. Poor Belle and Sebastian, left by the wayside....
Yesterday was super exciting for me: I GOT MY NEW CAMERA!!!! Yet another thing I love more than J. I told him I need to stop teasing him like that, doesn't seem right to constantly confess I love THINGS more than him, even if I am joking.
ANYWAY. I sat in the living room waiting for UPS to deliver my Canon 40d, compact flash card, and 50 mm lens for 2 HOURS. I was more excited yesterday than I have been in years. Since my wedding I guess. Then J got home and it was 5:45 and I was so sad! UPS wasn't coming?!?!?! I was pretty grouchy at dinner. Every time a loud vehicle went by, we both jumped. Then something went by and Sadie started barking, which was my signal that UPS WAS HERE!!!! In the time it took UPS man to walk to my door, I jumped up and down hysterically. It was a little ridiculous. A lot ridiculous. Then I spent 20 minutes unpacking and assembling. Next hour was for reading the manual and taking 84 pictures. Then I spent some time with J, then more with the camera in bed. Oh Canon 40d and manual, how I love you....
Okay, what was this post supposed to be about? I got all caught up in Canon 40d's beautiful lens.....
So in preparation for the grand "Let's Have a Baby Next Year" event, I'm reading up on it. I like researching stuff. A LOT. Even though there is not a hint of baby in the picture yet, I want to know everything about the little creatures. EVERYTHING.
Funny rambling: so most of my friends have kids and they love to talk about them. I like to listen and learn. And then talk to my childless friends about our dogs. Yes, about our pets, you read right. Boy, we sure can go on about them, just like the 'real' moms can. When I get together with said group of friends we eventually morph into 2 groups: one discussing children, the other discussing dogs. Hehe. Happens every time.
So here's my current read (well, I'm actually in the middle of about 4 books but this one is the focus of the day): Bright From the Start. Preeetty interesting and lots of data to back up what the author is saying. Here's a little something: Children under 2 do not have the ability to focus long on anything (as well evidenced by those crazy kindergarteners wandering through the halls at my school. Shudder.). When babies watch TV, their brains are actually being trained to work better with shorter time frames (think commercials). The constant interruptions inhibit the growth of their developing attention spans. Thus, I get 30 ten year olds whose brains are not able to focus on me for long! ADHD symptom central, here we come!!!
So many things in a child's life are beyond their control. We shape our children based on our interactions with them and our guidance of their lives. Poor kiddos, I wonder how it must feel to have so little control? Hey, I was a kid once, I can tell you how it felt!! I remember feeling inconsequential at times, not listened to, and, of course, looked down on. Why do I have to go to bed by 10:15? Why don't you understand how important this is to me? Why does Mom love my brothers and sisters more than me? Poor miserable little me. Funny how things make so much more sense now. Now boys are the only thing I still haven't figured out.
School's out in 2.5 weeks! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today is Mother's Day! Yay! I love my mom; no one makes sense to me like she does:) We're (my fam) going to the IMA (local museum) and having our annual Mother's Day Picnic in the gardens there. It's supposed to be 67 and sunny so maybe a little cool but otherwise a great day for a picnic!
I found this exciting book, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and am bringing 4 little loaves of bread for sandwiches this afternoon. We'll see how the bread actually turns out but it is really easy so far! All you do is mix flour, water, yeast, and salt together and let it rise for 2 hours. Then stick it in the fridge and pull off a chunk when you'd like to cook it. Let that chunk rise, then bake, cool, and eat! There's even a recipe for chocolate bread, something I tried at Fox and Obel's on our Chicago vacation. Just looking at the pics on the authors' website makes me drool. Ever since I was a kid, I've had a love affair with bread (don't tell J!).
This week my food love affair has been with a gallon of Mug 'N Bun root beer and vanilla ice-cream. What I say while drinking/eating my root beer float is not appropriate for this blog. Everything I say about it is only the best though!!
Here's an oldie but goodie SNL skit:)
Cheap COOL clothes, check it out!!
Makes me sad I pledged to buy everything used, nothing new. I cannot splurge on the lovely sale. But this is a good thing because we got our World Vision magazine today (they send it every couple months to remind me why I sponsor a kid and why I am very lucky to live where I do). GEEZ OH PETE. I have so much! And really, I don't have that much compared to others. I think clutter is distracting and burdensome so I try to have only a few possessions that I really like. WV is right when they wrote in an article that few Americans (at least those I know) have gone even 1 day w/o food.
Wow, there are so many people that have nothing while I sit in my living room, filled with more 'things' than others may possess in their entire house. I have a closet full of clothes and a shoe fettish (very cheaply fed) that could keep me going for years. I have a pantry that is well stocked. A car that I don't need to worry about. I own and feed pets!!! Do you ever feel too blessed?
