Hello 2010

I think I'm about recovered from our trip to Alabama. We got home yesterday around 2:30, and at around 8:00, I cozied up in my bed with my DSi to do some sudoku puzzles...

...and woke up sometime after 2:00 am, light on, quiet house. What a boring reveler I am. Got the year off to a good start by staying in my pajamas all day.

I like my sister's idea of setting goals for the year (rather than making resolutions) so I'm going to steal it. It's good to have goals.

Here are my goals for the year (list a work in progress *grin*)

1. Clean out the garage so I can park my truck in it.

2. Either create a photo studio in my newly-cleaned garage, or find studio space elsewhere.

3. Expand my business so that it can actually pay some bills.

4. Tear up the carpet in the living room and finally put down resilient flooring (and repaint in there, too).

5. Finish some of the projects I have going. Like afghans

6. Two words: Clean. House.

Short list, lofty goals. We'll see.

Skyping it

Another leap into technology. And pretty cool technology at that.

For Christmas, my mom purchased a new laptop for Erin, Eli, and Elsie, so we can video chat on Christmas morning. Erin already has skype set up on the laptop, and this morning, I hooked up my webcam and mic and got set up on skype, also. This afternoon, I'll head to my mom's and get her set up with the webcam I bought her (might have to go get a cheap mic). Julie's laptop has a camera built in like Erin's, so hers should be fairly simple.

Remarkably, I was also able to install skype on my phone. Which is cool because I have unlimited data but not unlimited minutes. So theoretically, I can bypass minute usage calling skype-to-skype.

Kinda cool.

Anyway, facebook friends can find my skype username on the info page of my facebook profile.

Ebook love...

It's the holiday season, and of course Amazon is pushing their Kindle, and B&N is pushing the Nook.

I honestly don't understand the draw of dedicated ebook reading devices like Kindle or Nook (and at least a dozen others). Don't misunderstand: I love ebooks and I love gadgets, but this one just doesn't compute with me. For me, the coolest thing about ebooks is that I carry a library literally in my pocket, on a small device that I'm already carrying with me--first it was my palm pilot, now it's my phone. I can pull out my phone and read anywhere, and I don't have to remember to bring another device with me--that's just like remembering to bring a paperback book (my phone is my MP3 player and PDA, too). And these dedicated reading devices are big and heavy! What's convenient about that?

Here's what I love love love about ebooks on my phone:
--Portability, as mentioned. I carry it in my pocket all the time.
--Convenience. It's already with me, so when I'm bored on the elliptical machine at the gym, or standing in line at the slowest fast food restaurant on Earth (Wendy's on I-20 west of Birmingham, Alabama)... Reading time! (Can you imagine whipping out one of those huge dedicated readers while standing in line at Wendy's? How geeky would that be? :D)
--Price. eReader (my fave) and Mobipocket software are free and available for most smartphone platforms (Android, Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Blackberry, iPhone, etc.). I pay for the books themselves only. (lots of free books available too, check out just one source)
--Adjustable font size. When I'm at the gym, I can increase the font size so I can read and run at the same time, then reduce it to normal size after.
--Tap the screen (or press a button) to turn the page. I can read completely one-handed, or put it on the machine in front of me and just touch it to go to the next page.
--Backlight. Boo-yah!
--Selection of titles. Millions. More than any brick & mortar store could ever hope to carry, and with internet access on the phone, all at my fingertips.
--Conversion software. I can make any digital file with text into an ebook readable on my phone.

Okay, so dedicated devices probably have adjustable font size and backlight. Possibly have one-touch operation, too, but they're too big to operate with the same hand you're holding it with. Probably a similar selection of titles, though I think your sources are limited. No idea about conversion software.

I'm thinking if you want something bigger than a phone, rather than a dedicated reader, you're better off getting a netbook (about the same size and often cheaper). It can serve as an ebook reader, a PDA, AND do lots of other stuff.

As for me, my phone is my (heart) ebook reader.

Praising God for guardian angels

Tonight I am very thankful for Norseman's guardian angels. Without them, today could have been really bad... See, we've got this pull-up bar that fits in the doorway and is held in place by tension. It's intended for pull-ups, wherein your body only gets perhaps twelve inches off the floor if you bend your knees. Despite being told several dozen times not to, monkey-man 'forgets' and hangs upside down from it. Being that just leaning on it can make it suddenly give way, I was VERY adamant that he not hang on it, explaining in horrible detail what could happen if it gave way while he was hanging upside down, if he fell three feet to land on his head. He told me I was being a paranoid mom.

This afternoon I was doing a crossword puzzle in my bedroom when I heard a loud thump, a groan, and a clatter. He moaned "It gave way." I leaped off the bed and into the hall, and found him on the floor, dazed and in pain. If I didn't honestly believe at that moment that I would further paralyze him, I would have smacked him upside the head. Instead I made him lay flat while I assessed.

He's fine, landed on his shoulders (thank you angels for giving him time and sense to tuck his head), though the bar actually landed on his head, so he's got two little cuts over fairly obvious lumps. "I've learned my lesson," he told me. While I successfully refrained from strangling him (though just barely), and went back to my room and cried.

He told me later this evening that he had an 'Oh sh*t' moment--that millisecond that seemed like several seconds between when the bar first started to nudge and when it gave way completely. That moment when he knew he was in a pickle, but could do nothing to prevent it.

Anyway, praise God disaster was averted, and we were able to attend the final night of Crowley High School's production of The Wedding Singer. Very good show with lots of talented kids. On the way home, I asked Sunshine and Norseman if that sort of thing appealed to them at all. They both said, 'Nope.' Which kind of makes me sad. How can I live vicariously through my kids if they have no interest in what I want to live vicariously in? Even now I sit at theater productions and think, "I wish I could still do that." Sunshine says, "You can! Erin did, why can't you?" If only we had a Theatre Tuscaloosa around here.

Now... need to go slip that pull-up bar into the trash without anyone noticing...

I'm missing Mythbusters to share this stuff....

Couple of newsworthy items today...

Sunshine twisted her ankle again. Same one she broke six months ago. Apparently she was running at recess near the end of the day and stepped on a rock, rolled her ankle and went down. The nurse sent her back to class with an ice pack, but she was hobbling by the end of the day. It's now swollen and purple, and very definitely a good sprain. She's begging me not to make her go to school tomorrow (because she doesn't want to use the crutches), but I'm gonna be a meanie. A sprained ankle is not a good enough stay-home excuse. Ace wrap and acetaminophen and she's good for the day.

I uploaded and started running an ad for my photography on Facebook yesterday afternoon with a budget of a paltry $2 a day. I've already gotten two contacts from it; one of those is a small national magazine based in Dallas that wants me to do their editorial head shots. So I'm encouraged.

And Lucy is still alive and well, though she's come thiiiiis close to being strangled several times in the last few days. It's been very cold, so she's been indoors more than usual. So when she's left alone for even three minutes, she finds something to chew on that she's not supposed to chew on (even though she has a very nice selection of sanctioned chew-things). Like Sunshine's camera, Norseman's screwdriver case, my Neanderthal skeleton model, among other things. A dismantled ball of yarn on the couches (plural) when she's not allowed on the furniture. Shredded kleenex on my pillow when she's not allowed on the bed. *sigh*

Clothes are not for dogs

At least not according to Lucy.

While I got the coffee pot going early this morning, I noticed poor ChiChi (the chihuahua) sitting on the floor shivering. The house was quite chilly, even moreso on the floor, so I dug her little green jacket out of the hat and mitten basket and put it on her for the first time this year. She trotted a circle around my feet in thanks, and then went in search of a place to hide her dog biscuit before Lucy (the border collie) came back inside.

Perhaps ten minutes later Lucy was inside--and noticed ChiChi. More specifically, noticed ChiChi's jacket. I happened to be in the kitchen observing as Lucy became very disconcerted, looking at the jacket, sniffing the jacket, even trying to take the jacket off of ChiChi. I had to tell her several times to leave ChiChi alone. I swear she looked at me like I was crazy. That look spoke volumes; it said "She is a dog. Dogs do not wear clothes. Humans wear clothes, dogs do not wear clothes. Capiche?"

Smarty pants.

La fin

This is it. 31 posts in 31 days. Nope, I didn't miscount.

I realized two things this month: 1) My life is not nearly exciting enough to blog about daily. I think if one were going to commit to blogging daily long-term, one would need another topic... like Cake Wrecks, or Epic Fails, or Clever Kludges. But even if *I* personally had another topic, it would be a struggle because, 2) I'm not the daily blogger type. Unless you count groggily posting a quick (and boring) blab as I fall asleep. So I welcome the end of NaBloPoMo, but still glad I did it.

On another note, my son realized for the first time a few days ago that if you change the spacing of the letters in his first and last name, it's French for 'the sea-faring Norse plunderer'. It's something I'd considered before choosing his name many years ago, but I was more concerned that he'd be teased. My worries were for naught. Apparently his friends think it's very cool. Arrrrrrr! Or maybe it was Urrrrrrr!

Okay, headed to bed. I have only one thought remaining tonight....




TOMORROW IS DECEMBER ALREADY?!??!?!!

Pizzelles Tradition

This is about the time I remembered I still hadn't posted for Sunday, right before I drifted off to sleep. So I'm faking it.

Oh--just in case you ever get a Samsung Gravity phone... Don't attempt to use an SDHC card in it. Even though the user manual indicates that any micro-SD card will do, the phone will irreversibly reduce a 4 gigabyte SDHC to 104 kilobytes. No joke. Guess how I know this. Fortunately I got the card for $9.99, so only tossed $10.81 down the tubes.

Dad put together a big Thanksgiving Revisited meal, with meat leftover from the 20-pound bird he cooked Thursday. And there was STILL lots of meat left over!

After dinner I mixed up a batch and a half of pizzelle batter. Years ago, this is something Gramma and I did together several times each year during the holiday lead-up, both Christmas and Easter. We made all kinds of cookies, but pizzelles are my favorite. She and I would each have an iron going, and she'd tell me about her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. So when she wandered out of her room after I'd added the anise oil (such fragrant stuff!) to the batter, I had to smile. She sat and silently watched me set up my own waffle iron and start stacks of finished cookies. I offered her one, but she refused. (I called her 'Gramma', and I realized the mistake as soon as it was out of my mouth. If I'd used her first name, she probably would have accepted it.)

Though she really wouldn't acknowledge me except to say that I'd taken the waffles off the iron too soon, she did stay at the table to watch. Mom turned on a CD of treasured hymns, and she sang along (kind of) with Alan Jackson. It's weird that the tunes of those songs have stuck with her to steadfastly. She sang loud, strong, and mostly on-key, at the slow, deliberate pace of the old ladies in the choir loft at St. Joseph's mission.

At some point mom got out Gramma's waffle iron, and she and I sat at the counter, while Gramma still observed and critiqued our efforts. She told Deena on the phone that we didn't know what we were doing (apparently she remembers that pizzelles are supposed to be the color of dark caramel, and ours were too white). After I cleaned up the pizzelle mess, I put all the accidental 'good' ones in the cookie jar for her.

On one hand it was nice to make pizzelles with Gramma. And it was nice to spend the time with my mom. On the other, I do really miss making pizzelles with my REAL Gramma. My kids barely remember her, but she's the Gramma who would never even think to stick out her foot and try to trip them.

Bones

It's in its 5th season and I'm only just now getting truly sucked in. Until today, I'd really only watched it at the gym, reading the closed captioning subtitles while I was on the elliptical machine. But I happened to catch two back-to-back holiday episodes today. You miss so much vocal nuance by reading subtitles. It's a terrifically intelligent show, which makes me wonder how in the world it's survived this long.

Had to go to the Fox website and watch the available episodes.

Of course now that I'm hooked, it will probably be canceled...

ADDED SUNDAY MORNING: I realized this morning why the name 'Temperance Brennan' sounded so familiar to me. Ten years ago, I read the very first two Temperance Brennan books by Kathy Reichs when I was assigned to review the second one, Death du Jour, soon after it was released. Terrific books but a little on the intense side for my tastes at the time. Gonna have to dig through my shelves and re-read them.

Remembered!

Almost forgot to blog today. Would have ruined the NaBloPoMo streak right at the end! But alas, I have remembered just in time.

The initial plan today was to avoid the Black Friday crowds altogether and do laundry. But my mom called, asking if we wanted to go with her, and we said 'Sure, why not?' (Who really wants to do laundry anyway?)

So we braved GardenRidge (where I picked up two nauseatingly cute ornaments for Tuesday's ornament exchange), Best Buy, and Walmart (where I picked up the cheddar cheese pretzel Combos I'm munching right now).

This evening after David got home, we headed back out and braved the mall to finally get new phones. After going so long with crappy, beat-up, falling-apart phones, it's strange to have brand new ones. We're sticking with T-Mobile for now, but without a contract.

Tomorrow I'm thinking we may go bake cookies at mom's... We'll see...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

Thanksgiving dinner was very nice, and very delicious. It was just the four of us and David's mom, Rosaleen. This morning, between floats and performances during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we got dinner in the oven in stages. Okay, I use the term 'we' very loosely. Rosaleen did nearly all of it. All I did was open two cans of corn and a box of corn muffin mix (but I made up for it by washing dishes afterward). The 'fresh' turkey she had paid extra for turned out to be frozen on the inside, which would kind of be impossible for an actual quoteless fresh turkey. I've found that as I mature, cranberry jelly grows on me (not LITERALLY). I used to hate it, but I took a big slice today and ate every smidget. Still not fond of sweet potatoes, though. At least not as sweet potatoes. I do like 'em in pie, though.

David has to work tomorrow, unfortunately, so after digesting for a couple of hours, we piled back in the truck and headed home. Think I'm headed to bed soon, so I can get up early and stay home for Black Friday. Wooo!

Today I am so grateful for the abundant blessings bestowed on me that I'll never even begin to deserve. I'm grateful for a God that loves me no matter how obstinate I can be. I'm grateful for family, for freedom, for the men and women who are serving our country away from home.

Hugs and blessings to you!

Mobile in Altus

Posting for the first time from my mobile phone. Not the most fabulous arrangement, but it works. We're in Altus tonight, Lucy's first trip out of state. It took us an hour and a half just to get out of Fort Worth, so the overall trip length was that much longer. We were ALL kind of whiny at the three-hour mark and we were only half way.

Have a blessed day of thanks!

Caffeinated

Sitting here with Sunshine, jamming to Foo Fighters via Rhapsody. She's playing billiards on Webkinz. Bookman is spending the night at his buddies' house, but he just checked in with a text message. David is in the living room on the laptop, Facebooking and watching basketball. A quiet evening (if you don't count the music) with modern technology.

For some reason, about 7:oo this evening, I thought it would be nice to reheat and drink the cup of coffee I left in the microwave before lunch. And it was nice, don't get me wrong. Peppermint Mocha creamer. Mmmmmm... But even at half-caff, I'm having a hard time sitting still. So it's kind of good that I've got music blaring, 'cause I can channel some of the energy into be-bopping. But be-bopping and typing at the same time is a challenge... *air guitar*

Probably ought to go do something constructive with this energy before it wears off...

They're a blessing

I have fabulous kids. I like to think I had a lot to do with that fact, but really I think I'm just blessed. By the grace of God, I have kids who are, in general, polite, respectful, responsible, and helpful. Of course they have their moments, as all kids do, but fortunately theirs are relatively few and far between. Just wanna squeeze 'em!

It used to be that if you asked them to do anything that might be construed as 'cleaning', they'd protest with exponentially more effort than it would have taken to just do the task in the first place. But this past week, I asked both kids to do various 'chores', and they BOTH did them with nary a sigh of dissent. It almost makes me wonder if they have a cooperative agreement between them to get on my good list in the lead-up to Christmas. Almost, but not quite. Not even when combined with TWO instances of brushing one's teeth without being asked. Nope.

Chili dogs

Lazy day. Did not go out to Mom's house, as is our normal Sunday routine, for fear of spreading whatever viral crud is still lingering. Sunshine hasn't decided yet if she's getting it, though as I type this, she's sitting at the computer next to me with about a dozen wadded up kleenex in front of her, sucking on a cough drop...

As the weather get's chillier, our chihuahua becomes more and more of a lap dog. If she gets cold and sees that you have an available lap, she'll stand at your knee and send those subliminal brain wave messages. It's cute, and she usually gets the lap. However, the border collie has observed this, and is also trying it, except that she skips right past the cute brain-waves part. She's big enough to take the initiative and and shove herself into your lap, invitation presumed. In other things, she really seems to grasp the 8-pounds versus 42-pounds difference between them (like when they play), but in being a lap dog, fair is fair apparently.

National Adoption Day

Felt MUCH better today! I didn't think the 12-hour Alavert that Mom had brought me yesterday had helped a whole lot, but boy I can tell when it's worn off.

Tagged along for the official adoption ceremony of Valerie 'Daisy' Jacobson today. I was serving as photographer, but I've known Daisy pretty much her whole life, so it was a little emotional too. I had to concentrate on photographing the event so I didn't get choked up. Take pictures, take pictures, don't cry, take pictures. Sunshine also tagged along, and I put her to work. She's good friends with Jacobson kid #2, but did a very good job handling my other camera. In fact she got more photos than I did, mostly of the same stuff, but from different angles, which is always good. Daisy's biological brother, Daniel, was fostered by the Jacobsons almost from the day he was born. They officially adopted him two years ago today, which was about a month after they took in days-old Daisy.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider saved a lot of photos today. I mention it because that same spider saved my sanity many times when my kiddos were younger. Cooped up in a van for 21 hours with an 18-month-old who would SO much rather be out of his carseat? Sing that wonderful song for hours and hours and hours and hours on end. What is it about that spider that little ones (particularly those under age four), find so captivating?

Am I drooling?

I'm sick, spacing out on cold meds, and beat from a long day at the school. Even though I took an hour and a half nap earlier, I'm drifting off, sitting here at my keyboard, and maybe even drooling a little bit.

So I should probably head to bed--after I post my daily photo on ShutterMuse.

Snot

How can one nose produce so much? I've been through a whole box of kleenex in the last two hours. And now blowing my nose sends a stabbing pain through my ear. Fun times. Just in time for Grandparents Day portraits at school tomorrow.

The good news is that Bookman is feeling better after having stayed home from school today. I had a photo shoot in Arlington, so I had him call me every thirty minutes with temperature and breathing updates (he's such a good boy). He's still running a low-grade fever, but is otherwise fine.

The photo shoot today went great. Got to work in an actual studio, and I got some really great portraits of my good friend Courtney. Had to buy a light meter and wireless strobe triggers on ebay--got some good deals, which is helping me to feel a bit better :)

Hope all of you are healthy and happy! Love you!

100 Degrees

A 100.7 degree fever in the heart of a swine flu breakout. And it's the kid with asthma. I'm thinking it's a cold--he's had some allergy-like symptoms for the past couple of days. But remaining vigilant.

I swear the days have been missing a few hours lately. I think they may be skipping out of work early, 'causeI just can't seem to get everything done AND get enough sleep.

My friend Stacy sent this to me today... Hadn't seen it before. I laughed because I have had at least half of these random thoughts myself, and totally agree with most of the rest. Thought I'd share it.

Random Thoughts for the Day

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Google Maps really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.
15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day, "Dad, what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Inspiration?

Yeah...I've got nothing.

My new camera arrived today, but I realize that level of near-hyperventilating excitement is not shared by the general population. So rather than bore you with an original poem yet-to-be-written (titled 'Ode to my Canon Monster'), I'm just gonna head to bed.

Good night!