22 june 2011

Another Wednesday adventure; Upper Tampa Bay Park.

Ryan was eager to get going. iTunes was giving me crap. We left about 9:30 Ryan chose the long route again. We got to the park at 10:30. There is a $2 fee to enter the park and the gate was not manned. I only $20 bills. I did find enough change to pay the fee.

The park was pretty much empty except for the lawn maintenance crew which woke up the millions of sleeping Mosquitos. I used bug spray but still got a few bites. The boys will only allow it on there legs and ankles, I wonder how they did. (Ryan has a few but they do not affect him. Andy has some that he has been scratching.)

We walked into the air conditioned nature center looking for a map. The trail maps are crude while the canoe maps are professionally printed. They have quite the array of fresh water and salt water fish. We even saw Dori, Nemo and Marlin. They have snakes and turtles too.

I was really surprised by the working bee hive inside the center. Yes, inside. It is encased in glass so you can see the bees working. The enter through a pipe in the wall.

There are satellite maps on one wall. One includes much of Tampa, another includes that portion of Tampa then a third includes just the park. Ryan took photos of everything.

There are two trails. One is called and bobcat and it goes along the boardwalk. The boardwalk is closed for repairs but the satellite map showed what I thought to be a secondary route. Ryan chose the bobcat trail. It circles the salt barrens. We saw fiddler crabs running away from us. I tried to photograph them but they were too fast. Ryan tried with his iPod and was not even close. I tried to tell him to get his phone ready first before he went looking for them. He would not listen.

We ended up having to turn back. The path I thought we could use was not clear enough. Besides the walk was short enough. On the way back, we heard something in the brush. Ryan turned to go see but I pulled him back. There are snakes and other creatures there which would likely freak us both out. Ryan complained about not seeing any animals but he is too noisy and impatient. I said we could go to the zoo if he wants to photograph animals.

We got back and Ryan wanted to go for lunch. I tried a quick shot of my Lego guy looking at a flower. Lego guys don't stand up well in a breeze and there were loads of ants darting about. We left.

On the way out, I saw a turtle walking by the side of the road. I stopped and told Ryan to take a photo. He barely looked out the window. He was afraid of the turtle. Imagine if we would have seen a water moccasin or opossum out there.

We had lunch and came home. My first kit for Lego master builder academy was here. I am not into space and kits like this but it was still fun to put together. The kit is very nice and comes in its own sorting and storage box. The directions are much nicer than the ones you find in typical kits.

POTD.

Dinner: salmon & grape tomatoes, black cherry sorbet

Card of the day.

21 june 2011

Feels like a lazy day.

Worked on June 2008 photos. Found some more 2008 photos not synched with Lightroom. Turns out they were just duplicates left over from iPhoto. I am glad to away from iPhoto.

POTD

Lunch.

Words with Friends with my nephew. He must have his notifications on because he plays his turn so quickly.

While photos were converting to dng, I tossed more stuff. Tons of mini eyelets and brads that I will never use. Tons of flowers. And a few kits that only a remnants left. Feels good.

Worked on July 2008 POTD.

Bad stomach ache. So I had popcorn for dinner. I do feel better.

Card of the day.

Ryan had trouble deciding where to go tomorrow. He wants to go hiking. He picked Upper Tampa Bay Regional Park. It is mostly for canoeing.

I joined mlkshk. Still trying to figure it out.

20 june 2011

At the pool. Looks like the deck work is done. I am not impressed. The people who run this are all about saving a buck then complaining when it doesn't last. There are two guys by the pool equipment. One is bent down doing the work. The other one is supervising or just adding comment. The commenter has a typical New York nasal accent. "How can you work that way?!" When the guy working mumbles something, the commenter retorts, "Take it easy!" Nothing is said as a statement. Everything is emphatic.

It is hot today. Where is the breeze? Oh right there, barely a whisper and not at all refreshing.

Capture Your 365 prompt is late. I had to use The Daily Shoot which is heat. I was not very inspired. I realized that I do not have many plain building lego.

I did finish June 2008 POTD. This was the second summer I had my dSLR and I took a lot of photos of Ryan jumping into the pool. He really enjoyed swimming then.

A few years ago, there was a woman with 2 kids who came to the pool on the same days as we did. She would yell at her kids with idle threats, "If you can't behave, we will leave and not come back." The kids misbehaved and whined and they came back. I don't recall seeing them last year and maybe the year before. They were back today. I thought it might be them when. I heard the girl say, "James come to Sissy," soon the mother was yelling at James not to yell "Help!" and I knew it was them.

Andy thought she was yelling at him and sat down next to her. Oh dear!

Ryan commented that Andy broke a pool rule by walking in the gutter. I need to print out some rules and maybe then he will follow them.

Capture Your 365 prompt is "gone surfing". I did have a surfboard in my shot but said it was too hot to use it. Hmm...

Lunch & groceries. Andy had wanted to go in the blue doors at Target. We have a SuperTarget and the green doors lead to the grocery side while the blue doors lead to the regular Target side. It is one big store but I tend to stick to the green doors/grocery, unless I need something specific. It is too easy to spend money at Target. So we went in the blue doors today. We walked by the books and the toys. My boys did not want anything. Really. I asked them and they said no. None of the new Cars 2 items and no Lego for Ryan. So I skipped getting a new Lego set for myself. My kids are weird.

We did get a new razor and shave gel and after bath I have to try to shave Andy's face. Yikes!

I did some more photos for POTD.

I did a layout of Ryan's first science project.

Card of the day.

I did work on June 2008 photos. I deleted about 700 photos today.

I talked to Bonnie about her son and parenting techniques.

The shaving went OK. I used Neutrogena Gel and a Gillette razor. Andy was still apprehensive. I made him sit on the toilet. I did miss some places but got enough off for now. His cheeks are a little red. I don't know if it is from the shaving itself or from the gel. I did get the stuff for sensitive skin. Hopefully, I will not have to do this very often. At least not for a while.

19 june 2011

Father's Day. Just another day in this house. Though Poppa should be here by next Sunday. I hope. He went to Indiana today and should be in Atlanta by Wednesday.

Spent most of the day working on May 2008. I was trying to be very creative with the still life scenes for my POTD. I deleted over 1000 photos. I must have been too busy to do much more than grab a good shot and edit it for my post. The rest I left for later. Later took 3 years to happen. Most of the files were still in the original raw format. I converted them to dng. I noticed that I am running low on hard drive space. My photos are kept on an external hard drive with 1Tb capacity. There is less than 50Gb of free space. Purging these extra photos will help but I think I will look into getting 2Tb drives soon.

Andy usually just wears his jammies on the days we don't go out. His jammies consist of t-shirts and boxer shorts. Yesterday and today he has gotten dressed even though we did not go anywhere.

We put off the shaving lesson until tomorrow. I realized I should get Andy a razor than is not pink and some lotion that does not smell like flowers. I asked my sister for advice and she said her boys started out on electric razors. Andy does not want that. He barely outs up with the buzzing when he gets his hair cut once a month.

I have been listening to old episodes of Build & Analyze. I am not a programmer. But I am caught up on all my other podcasts so I decided to download these. Nerd that I am.

Photo of the day. Today's prompt was dad.

Card of the day.

Went through June POTD. Tons of pool photos that need to be scrapped. Tons of photos I took for POTD but did not use. It is interesting to see how I processed photos back then. I used a lot of photoshop actions. I tended to mute the colors a lot. I love that I have the original that I can do something else if I choose to.

I can't remember when I started taking glucosamine. It was recommended by my chiropractor for my chronic ankle pain. Glucosamine is one of the supplements where you can't really feel it working until you quit. I ran out about a week ago and yesterday my ankle started aching. It has only ached when I have been walking a lot. I have only been home and it should be fine. But it feels like it did before the glucosamine kicked it. It is expensive but I think I will make sure to pick some up tomorrow. Though Kirkland Signature Extra Strength Glucosamine HCI 1500mg, With MSM 1500 mg, 375-Count Tablets at amazon is a lot cheaper than what I pay at Target.

18 june 2011

Bought some new kits. Deleted 30 iOS apps. There are lots more I could delete but I am not sure of Ryan still uses the games.

Went to do POTD and noticed one of the cabins was falling apart. I knew it was Ryan. He said it just fell apart. He didn't do anything. Right. So I rebuilt two of them to match the first one. It has the best design. I was missing two pieces when I was finished but I let it go. Then I took the photo.

Orange lunch: grilled cheese, baby carrots, melon.

Ahh. Finally finished editing and uploading the photos from the bicycling finals for special olympics. Also finished April 2008. May 2008 has tons of photos. I was really experimenting with still life vignettes. It also is a record of what I used to decorate my home.

May 2008 POTD.

Thunder but no rain.

Dinner: salmon, tomatoes, melon, chicken nuggets for the boys

Card of the day.

17 june 2011

Ryan asked when to expect his book. I asked if he thought he deserved it after acting so poorly at the mall. He said he deserved it. He thought I ordered the book while still at Barnes & Noble. I didn't but I also did not tell him that I did order it when we got home. I told him how we had to earn an allowance and save up to buy a book. I told him he had to clean up his area in the family room. He uses my old laptop on the coffee table rather than the eMac in his bedroom. Flotsam and jetsam find there way to this area and under the table. He grumbled as he picked up the larger objects. I said there was still more on the floor like the silly bandz he likes to rip up.

Later, he came to me and said the floor was spotless. It is close enough and I told him the book would be here today.

Worked on more Disney biking photos. I have about 50 more to go. Why do I take so many photos?

Worked on March 2008. I took a lot of photos then as well.

Photo of the day.

Lunch: grilled cheese, carrots and melon.

Finished March 2008. Did April 2008 POTD. Lightroom kept crashing even after I rebooting the computer.

Dinner: chicken nuggets for the boys; tuna and tomatoes for me. More melon for dessert.

Card of the day.

Layout, Andy in 2008. I am not 100% happy with this one. The template is from Get a Scrap. The photos do not have equal borders on the mat and it annoys me. I learned this pet peeve from Cathy Zielske. I didn't notice it right away or I would have fixed the original template. I moved the photos as much as I could without redoing the mat. Yes, I know no one will notice but me. I am not real happy with the paper choice. I wanted a stripe to mimic his shirt. I could not find anything is red or blue. I was going to grab Art Warehouse Pride kit but I feel like I use it a lot. I know some Scenic Route would have been perfect if only they stayed around to go digital. Oh well. It is another layout done.

The sky had a glorious yellow orange glow just before the sun set. It made the whole house light up.

16 june 2011

We had our first big storm last night. It was after Ryan went to bed. He did wake up and cuddle but he doesn't remember it today.

At the pool. Andy is swimming. Ryan is wandering about.

I decided to take a different approach to POTD. I decided to use one of the daily prompts I get. The one from Capture Your 365 was about a good mess; in the garden, washing dishes. I had Calliope picking a carrot. I could only find one carrot. I think that it all I have. I wish I could buy more but they are not available at Lego.

I worked on 2008 photos and finished February.

I looked up to see Ryan bending down behind three teenage girls lounging by the pool. They noticed him and turned but didn't say anything to him. He walked back and they giggled quietly. I don't think he heard or noticed. I asked him what he was doing but he didn't respond.

A mother and her 2 girls and 1 with gorgeous red hair. They are pale and freckled.

Pat came by and invited me back to the exercise group. Maybe. She is nice.

Lunch, gas, groceries.

I spent $102 at Publix. What the heck? Chocolate milk is at $6.15 gallon. Thank goodness they don't eat a lot of snacks.

Had to nap.

Made a card.

Posted POTD.

Worked on Disney photos and March 2008.

Had popcorn for dinner.

Explained a joke to Ryan. He is reading Brain Droppings
">Brain Droppings by George Carlin. He was reading it in the car. He repeated the joke to me. JFK's administration shouldn't have been called Camelot. It should have been called Come-a-lot. I asked if he understood and he said no. I told him Come-a-lot referred to sex and did he want to know. No. Later he asked about it. I had to explain what come meant and what an orgasm was. I also had to explain about JFK. George Carlin may not be appropriate for my 12 year old but his jokes bring up conversation that might not otherwise happen.

More photo editing. I see that I must have just grabbed the great photos and worked on them leaving the rest. I will have lots to scrap about. And I have been purging loads of poor and meh images.

15 june 2011

I took some Lego photos in case I didn't get any good shots while we went mall exploring. Is there a cool name for it like spelunking?

West Shore Plaza. Ryan wanted to go exploring. Drove me a little nuts. We went up the escalators to the movie theaters. Ryan wanted to go in but didn't want to watch a movie. Well, he would have been happy to see 5 or 10 minutes just to get inside. We went back down then walked around the mall. The lighting is awful. Sometimes it is bright but mostly it is dark. I didn't want to bring in my big flash but I would have been better off.

We went into Macy's. We went up the escalators to the third floor. We walked around and to the elevator. We were in the elevator and we heard a big clunk. An employee was in the elevator with us and said that there is a freight elevator behind the passenger elevator. Andy said, "This is a death trap!" because he heard Gluse say that. Oh joy. Ryan went into a woman's fitting rooms. He wanted to go in all of them. I said he could go into the Men's fitting rooms. He walked away. He took pictures of everything. He wanted to go up and down the escalator and elevator too many times. I would tell him to stop and he kept going. What the heck? I was getting angry and Ryan ignored me. Andy stayed back because he doesn't like it when I get angry. Which would make me more angry. I looked at iPhone cases and Ryan decided he wanted one for his iPod Touch. I bought him a shiny green one that will probably break soon.

We went to Game Stop. The boys don't play with the wii nor do they play with Nintendo DSs. Ryan found NASCAR 2011 for the xbox. I asked about it for the wii. They had a copy. Ryan didn't want it. He said he wasn't ready. Fine with me. It was $50.

Went to lunch: McDonalds then Chick Fil A.

Ryan wanted to go to a bookstore. There are none in the malls anymore. We went to Barnes & Noble. Ryan said he wanted a book even though he just got 2 through iBooks. I can't say no to books. Which is why my house is full of books. I got an ice chai. Yum.

Ryan wanted a George Carlin trilogy for $22. The book is $15 at amazon. He said he would wait. But then he went and got one of the books now. Andy splurged and got two books. I am too nice. Then again, Andy never asks for expensive books and rarely more than one.

We got to the International Plaza and Ryan wanted me to park in the parking garage. The boys took off for the elevator. They met me inside. Someone asked why I had my camera. I said because I don't like leaving it in the car.

We walked around. Gap has opened up here after years of saying they wouldn't. No matter, I don't shop there anymore. We went into the Disney store. Ryan took pictures, Andy took video. Ryan tested my patience.

Ryan want to go into Nordstrom's. He walked towards the restroom. The men's restroom is on the second floor but the men's clothing is on the first floor. They do have a family rest room on the first floor. Ryan would not come in. I told him to wait. When Andy & I were done, I went towards the elevator but Ryan said he already went up to the restroom and came back. Grrr. I warned him that the next time he takes off he will lose his iPod. that worked for 5 minutes. We went back into the mall. I went up the escalator, Andy went up the elevator, and Ryan ignored us both. Grrr. I wanted to sit him down and read him the riot act but I don't want to upset Andy because it takes too long to calm him down.

Ryan was ready to go. But Andy really didn't have much of chance to do what he wanted. He had picked the mall but Ryan led the way. So I told them to me me at the Apple store. How can I visit the mall and not go to the Apple store? Not that I needed anything but it just feels so good to be there. Ryan stayed with me and Andy went to the lower level via the glass elevator. Ryan and I got there first and we walked inside. After a while, Ryan was ready to leave. Andy was standing by the front door. We went to gather him and I realized he had been waiting for us there and did not go inside. I let him go inside while Ryan and I waited in the mall. Ryan started to fuss about his low battery on his iPod. Of course it was low, he was taking lots of photos. And he also had just about every app still open. He never force quits them so they slowly suck battery life and memory. I gave him the keys to the van and I waited for Andy. He was playing on the computers meant for kids.

I let Andy choose the route home. Ryan graciously said he approved. Oh man. We stopped at Nutrition S'mart so I could get some raw honey. I let the boys stay in the car.

I worked on photos for over two hours. I did a quick scan through the ones I took today. I posted POTD then worked on photos from 2008. I was also working on the March 2008 POTD and found that I had already deleted a photo that was poor. I am not even sure why I posted it to begin with.

We had dinner and then I did a card and finished up the POTD layout.

14 june 2011

Flag day. Why didn't I do something with my legos? I sort of feel like the writers on SNL. I don't know how to end this series so it keeps going past the laughs.

I got father's day cards out. I went to ask Andy to sign the card to his godfather, his door was open but it should not have been. I really need to post some rules for him. Naked four year olds are cute. Naked 14 year olds, not so much.

I did another month of POTD. I am putting of doing editing the biking photos from Disney.

Layout of Andy at the pool last week. The template is from Template Tuesday at Jessica Sprague. I hate to straighten up the photos and some other items. I just don't like to tilt my photos.

I asked Ryan about going somewhere tomorrow. He said yes but didn't know where. I said it was Andy's turn. He agreed. I asked Andy and he didn't know where we should go. So I gave him some choices; a park, downtown, or a mall. He chose International Plaza because he wants to go up and down the escalators and elevators. Ryan said he wants to go to Westshore Mall. I said we can do both since they are near each other. West shore is only a one story building. At least as I recall. It has been years since we have been there. That is the other place for Old Navy and the drive was worth not having to go to Slug Mall.

Card of the day.

I have been getting very lazy about logging my calories for the day. I think I have been OK but I know I probably am not. No weight change so I am still eating too much.

13 june 2011

Got the Downtown Disney photos done. Now onto the biking event.

At the pool. They are still working on the deck so we are sitting on the other side. The side is behind me so there is no glare. Six year old boy with Mohawk and center is dyed brown and pink. Really?

Busy day today with two extra stops. Andy has been drinking a lot of juice and Target hasn't been carrying to stuff he likes.

We went to the chiropractor. I can never relax when the boys are there. I am always worried they will do something they shouldn't.

We stopped at Publix to get juice. Ryan pushed the cart and hard to go up and down an extra aisle just because. I am too indulgent sometimes.

We were leaving Target and Ryan stopped pushing the cart, walked through a check out lane and then to the end and scooted outside. He was trying to avoid someone but I do not know whom. He said he could not remember their name.

I talked to Bonnie for a while. She was working while her kids were home with her husband. I had given her a challenge to do 30 layouts this weekend at her crop. She did 33. Showoff.

I downloaded a new app for my iPad called Palimpsest. It culls interesting articles from magazines. I read a rather long article about Percy Fawcett. Of course now it says I have 54 articles to read and the badge teases me.

Card of the day.

Photo of the day.

Layout, January 2008 photo of the day.