13 july 2011

Wednesday

Wednesday Adventure Club off to a bad start. Ryan wanted to walk around the park. I said OK. I stopped to take Andy's picture and Ryan kept going. I looked for him, yelled for him. Which got Andy upset. I finally saw Ryan on the other side of the park. I yelled run. He walked. Grr. I yelled run and he still walked. He got here and I yelled and took his iPod away. Andy wascrying. Grr! He doesn't mind me. I hate not being listened to.

We went into the museum. I said if we got separated, to me at the front doors at 11:30. Then I set the alarms on the boys' iPods. Right away Ryan was giving me attitude. They were out of maps but they had them on the wall. I told Ryan to photograph them. He said no cameras were allowed. We went to go upstairs and the boys went for the stairs but I wanted the elevator. I asked what floor and they kept going. I had to remind Ryan that he was not listening. He came back and told me the third floor.

The elevator stopped at the second and there was Ryan. We called Andy, who was hanging back, and we went back in the elevator. We went up to the third floor and the doors opened. A man got on the elevator and I went to go out. Then I noticed that this was not part of the public space. It contains the offices and area for parties. The elevator only opened because the man called it.

We went back down to the second floor and started to explore. Ryan really likes Water's Journey. The clouds are a climbing area suspended from the ceiling. There are platforms, or clouds, to climb on. The area is caged so no falling. But the whole thing sways a bit which makes Andy nervous. I get vertigo just trying to photograph Ryan climbing.

We went downstairs to play in the Kid's Port. Andy was still glum. He said he needed a nap when he got home.

Back upstairs to play. Ryan likes the Art Smart pinboard and the Super Market. I made each boy stand against the wall in the hospital to see how tall they are. They looked liked suspects.

Soon, Ryan was done so we went through the gift shop quickly and then back to the car. We had lunch and came home.

The drive did Andy good and he was no longer sad when we got home. He said Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz cheered him up and he could play. Ryan asked why Andy took so longer to feel better. Andy is more empathetic than Ryan.

POTD. Prompt was close up.

I finished purging 2008 photos.

Card of the day.

12 july 2011

Tuesday.

Break is half over!

POTD. Prompt was more than 6. I put together a new kit with 9 boxes of Lego.

I finished up purging November 2011. I started collecting POTD for December. I missed a whole week of posting because I was getting ready for family to visit. I managed to find photos that I had taken for those days. I began the layout and realized we had to get ready for the movie. I got all the photos placed on the first page before I had to quit and fix lunch.

Andy & I went to see Cars 2. I cannot believe how expensive movie tickets are. It is much cheaper waiting for the DVD. For the two of us it was $15.50. Thankfully we don't get snacks.

The movie was more enjoyable than I expected. I am not sure little kids would get all the references to James Bond. Finn McMissile can do anything. Andy got bored about half way through. He wanted to move higher up which we did. Then he wanted to listen to his iPod. Ironically he chose to watch Curious George which is the first movie I took the boys to. We left about 2/3 in.

I wanted to stay past the credits but Andy was ready to leave so we did. We stopped at McDonalds for fries.

December 2008 POTD. Now that the POTD layouts for 2008 are done, I am wondering if I should have a photo book made or start another alba just for POTD. It would be cheaper to do the album.

Card of the Day.

Purged more photos. Realized I have not done anything with the photos when my family came to town. There are some funny shots between Nancy and John.

I am hungry. I fixed myself a smoothie. By avoiding sugar, my cravings are down and I have calories left over.

11 july 2011

Monday.

POTD. Prompt is U/ewe/you. I goggled Lego sheep and found this cute one. It looked simple enough but I wasn't sure I had the right pieces. I went through two boxes of Lego that the boys had. I found lots of interesting piece but few that I could use. It was 10 and we had to go swimming. So I decided on this lame sheep and the guy trying to sell it to our simple farmers.

We got to the pool just after 11. It is hot!

Lunch at CFA. I looked at calories and ingredients. The southwest chicken salad has HFCS and MSG. I ate the salad without the chicken.

Came home and worked on a layout for Design Your Life. I don't like the sketch and was going to modify it. I do not like when photos jump the gutter. They especially look bad in ring binders. But I found photos that worked so I used it as is.

Kind of funny but I almost prefer single page layouts these days.

I was going to put off the chiropractor until tomorrow. Then Andy came up to me and said, "This Tuesday?" I knew he was referring to going to see Cars 2. I said OK and got myself to the chiropractor. I got to see Dr Burns and he did a great adjustment.

I stopped at Publix on the way home for orange juice. I want to be able to have smoothies for a snack and the o.j. At home was way past its date.

I was still hungry after dinner. I was too lazy to make a smoothie so I had so e chocolate milk.

Ryan said he will be ready to get his shots next Tuesday. I have made a note to locate his medical records before then.

Andy picked the aquarium but we no longer have passes. I said we had passes to Glazer Children's Museum and he said OK. Ryan said it was OK since it was indoors. I am not sure if he is concerned about bugs and heat or rain.

Card of the day.

10 july 2011

Sunday.

POTD. Today's prompt, a day of rest.

Google+ and twitter are both slow this morning. Bored.

Had a card for a free frappacino at Starbucks. I got a non-fat no coffer cinnamon dolce. It was OK but not worth the 300 calories.

I went to Nutrition Smart. I spent $54 on 2 bags of stuff. Their produce selection is very small.

November 2008 POTD.

Worked on purging photos.

Dinner. Tuna & tomatoes.

I went over my calorie budget but Sundays are hard with waffles. I did do well except for that frap.

Card of the day.

9:08pm and I am hungry but I will not eat. I can wait for breakfast.

09 july 2011

Saturday.

Nice not to have to go anywhere.

Ate 2 donut holes before I remembered my resolve to eat better.

POTD. Prompt was triangle. Had an idea to make a minifigure pyramid. It wouldn't work easily so I grabbed a cabin which has a gable roof. I added a garden plot to it and some farmers. I wish Lego made a barn.

I forgot to run Cocktail while I was taking photos so I am running it now. I think I accidentally quit it mid-run.

Listened to This Week in Photography. It was an interview with the owner of 500px. I was expecting to hear something about the Jay Maisel Andy Baio case.

Sitting at the computer listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. All this talk of food makes me want something to eat but I am not hungry. I went to get an apple and they are all bad. The bananas are bad. Not a good day to start eating healthy. I did eat a spoonful of peanut butter. Yum. Dishing Up Nutrition says to eat 14 grams of protein daily which is a lot! I think I need to stop listening. (I did delete the podcasts. There is too much I don't agree with.)

Card of the Day.

It has been raining most of the day. My headache could be from that or the lack of sugar. Or caffeine.

The rain finally stopped. My headache did not.

The only fruit and veggies in the house are carrots. I had them for lunch and dinner. Yet it is still not enough fiber. I will have to get some real produce tomorrow.

Worked on purging photos. I am done with October 2008.

Andy was missing George Carlin audiobooks. I did some checking and think it is because I put parental restrictions on. I went to check and could not get in to the settings. Seems that someone has been trying to get in. I have three passcodes that I use. I tried one and was locked out for 15 minutes. I tried another and was locked out for an hour. I decided it would be quicker to restore. It was and now he is happy.

No good snack foods. But I did well except for those two donut holes. It is a matter of reminding myself not to eat the junk. Then I don't crave more.

Got an invite to Google+. Once again, I may be invited to hang out with the cool kids, but I will never be one. Awkward.

08 july 2011

Friday.

I ripped the DVD for Andy and took photos for POTD.

Rain and storms all day.

I met Doyle downtown to go through the Ansel Adams exhibit. We looked at his work through a critical eye. We noted areas where his most likely dodged and burned to get the image he wanted. We saw some photos that did not impress. They were special only because they were Ansel Adams. Doyle's favorite was of the Buddhist graveyard in Maui. My favorite was a simple church. I do prefer architecture over nature.

We went to leave and got hit by another squall. We ducked into an alcove and tried to wait it out. We finally gave up and went to lunch at Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

I drove home in heavy rain and saw more accidents.

I did a layout for Design Your Life.

Card of the day.

I saw Andy using his iPod nano. I asked if he lost his iPod touch. Yes. So I went to me.com and sent the signal. It had slipped behind a box so he couldn't see it. Ryan missed the signal so we went looking for all of our devices. It said it could not locate Ryan's iPod touch because he had disabled wifi.

Dad disappeared after dinner. Andy said he had his jammies on. He must not be feeling well which explains the oatmeal for dinner.

I must stop eating Nips!

07 july 2011

Thursday.

I was trying to think of what to shoot today with the prompt f8. I put away all the minifigures I got out yesterday. I also did some reorganizing. Finally ready to start building something and I remembered my new kit. I pulled it all out and did some shots at f8. I also did some at f22, f16 and f11. I need to upload them to see how they look.

We went to the pool late because I was thinking (hoping) it was going to rain. I just felt like staying home. Andy was happy to go. The clouds began to roll in but no rain.

POTD. None of the shots done at f8 are great. But they are good enough.

I went to Dr Weil's site today to look up some diet info. He says that The Zone diet is one of the better ones but pushes too much protein. He says that too much protein can be hard on the liver and kidneys. I looked at what Dr Weil had to say about the Paleo Diet. He thinks parts of it are good. But he thought they were missing out on some protection from cancers that certain fruits and legumes provide. Basically, he agrees with any diet that agrees with his. I feel better when I follow his diet.

Worked on purging photos.

Got up and showered so I could dry my hair. It was raining. the bar in inside and outside. My hair freaked out. And I didn't know until I got in the car. Yikes!

I went to The Brass Tap to celebrate Mike's birthday. It was nice to see Bridget and Reneé. Mike and Joe. But the rest I did not know. OP did not show up.

The Brass Tap only has beer and wine. I had sangria. About four of them. Too much acid. Bridget brought her own snack mix since the bar has no food. Bridget ordered pizza from next door. Each flatbread pizza only had 8 slices. Certainly not enough to feed the crowd. I felt guilty eating 2 slices but it was just sitting there.

I got home just after 8.

Card of the day.

06 july 2011

Aunt Flo is early. Ugh.

Woke up to the cable clicking on an off. Only the set top box in my room works. FiOS site is very slow so we gave up.

Started to gather the minifigures. Ryan was helping. And by helping I mean being a goof just to get a laugh or an eye roll. I didn't get any photos taken since it was time to leave.

MOSI did not cost as much as I thought, only $40 for the three of us. Still, we don't spend more than an hour or two there. they now have giant air slides which are not free. I thought the sign said 2 Tokens per Slide. $1 for two tokens. Or $5 for an all day pass. I figured the pass would make more sense. Ryan did not want to go so I walked back to the front and got a pass for Andy who was eager to go. He did the obstacle course a couple if times before climbing up the giant slide. Then I saw that the sign read Two Slides per Token. Oops. And did love the fast slide. He tried the Velcro jump but he didn't quite understand and it was kind of lame. Ryan was anxious to leave so a few more trips down the slide and we left.

I forgot to switch my lens and had my 50mm macro on there. On the Olympus system, 50mm means 100mm so I couldn't do much but close ups.

We went to lunch and went home.

I did my POTD while Ryan watched Looney Toons. They played the Wagner Opera, Kill the Wabbit and I sang along. I don't think Ryan understands that I used to watch these when I was his age.

I worked on purging October 2008. And organizing more supplies. I definitely have too much. With digital scrapping, there is no fear of running out of a special paper. But there is no joy in using a product up. In theory, you could reuse your kits forever. But all that stuff eats up hard drive space and slows down the process of choosing a kit.

Card of the Day.

Tomorrow's photo prompt is f8. That will be a challenge. I shoot macros at f22 or f16. Sometimes I can get away with f11. F8 is a very shallow depth of field at that scale.

05 july 2011

Tuesday.

I reworked my iPad home page. I took off all the folders and moved them to the second page. Then I moved in the apps I use on a daily basis and apps I wish to use more often. I found myself forgetting about some because I did not see them. It is a little odd to see my apps now instead of folders. But it is less clicks and I will get used to it quickly. I may do the same thing with my iPhone. (I did do the same with my iPhone. I don't have as much space there and seem to use more apps. We'll see how long it lasts.)

Waiting at the lab. There was no paperwork forwarded so I am delayed.

Blood work done. She had trouble finding a vein but managed it without any pain.

A kind Target pharmacist found a way to save me $57 on my meds. Hmm... the same amount needed for MOSI tomorrow.

POTD. Prompt was just a part. I shot a bunch of Lego close up. As close as I could get.

Design your life layout.

I did more photo purging. September 2008 is finished. October 2008 POTD.

I am really pushing the limits of my ram. But I think I need bigger hard drives first. Maybe I should play lotto?

Card of the day.

A few days ago, it seemed that the Ghirardelli Toffee Interlude tasted different. It actually seemed not as good. I made the mistake of looking at the ingredients. The label says All Natural. But they include high fructose corn syrup. Dang! I will not be buying any more. At least their regular dark chocolate is free of HFCS.

Andy asked about the day I was gone for 11 hours. I didn't remember anything and he said it was the last day in March. Again, I could not remember. I checked my calendar app but it was blank. I don't like that my calendar items archive after 30 days. I want to see what I did in the past. Thank goodness for momento.

03 july 2011

Starbucks. Iced chai and carrot cake. They combined cards but the new app does not have the SDN. Not that it was reliable.

Pinterest app is nice but doesn't show me everything.

Five Guys Little Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato & mayo. Yum.

Ice cream machine at McDonald's broken. Boo.

Layout for Design Your Life. I had to alter the template. I changed it to 12x12 but just adding canvas. Then I add 3 photos to the right and eliminated the journal box. I don't need to journal a portrait session but I did want to include more photos. I didn't realize it when I got the photos, but the originals were pretty dark. I lightened them up. And whitened the teeth. So far Design Your Life is easy. Next is a color challenge.

POTD. Prompt was multi-colored. I had this new kit with the colorful dragon.

Napped.

Ryan said he room was clean. I went to look. It was cleaner than before but still not clean enough. He has too many books for his shelves. And he had stuff on his floor. I helped him clean up and moved the behemoth eMac out. I zeroed out it and Andy's old eMac and got them ready to give away. Right now, there are four people living in this house. We have seven computers, one iPhone, one iPad, and three iPod Touches. I am going to give away one of the iPod Touches. Now if my dad would do something with the laptop sitting collecting dust. Andy did like to use it until he got my old iMac.

Working in Ryan's room also reminded me of the projects I have yet to complete. I want/need to put up shelves in Andy's closet so some of the stuff in Ryan's closet can be moved. That will free up some space for Ryan's board games. Ryan also needs a mirror with hooks hung up. I have a hanging mirror for Andy too. And both boys have chalk boards to be hung.

Card of the day.