March 31st, 2011 - Day 90
So, I LOVE this shot. It is a simple shot, but I love everything about it. I wanted a portrait shot up against a colorful wall and I felt the monkey would make a good off-set subject.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Back-Up Plan
March 30th, 2011 - Day 89
Back-up shot. Tried a shot tonight that I had been wanting to do for a while and it didn't come out how I wanted. Will have to do it another time. So, I had to quick take something else. I like the curves of this bench, especially in black and white.
Back-up shot. Tried a shot tonight that I had been wanting to do for a while and it didn't come out how I wanted. Will have to do it another time. So, I had to quick take something else. I like the curves of this bench, especially in black and white.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A Tale of Two Seasons
Catching up on the last 4 days of pics. The title of the blog post comes from the fact that the first picture is from our last hard rain hopefully that we will have this season and the last picture is from today, our first absolutely beautiful day in a long while. Spring is here!
March 26th, 2011 - Day 85
Saturday morning, I was feeling under the weather a bit and had to be out of the house by 8am. I also knew that it was also my last opportunity to take a picture for the day as I expected to not be home until after midnight. With that in mind, I took a quick shot, forgetting I had already done a leaf in March. Oh well, under the circumstances, I am still ok with it.
March 27th, 2011 - Day 86
March 26th, 2011 - Day 85
Saturday morning, I was feeling under the weather a bit and had to be out of the house by 8am. I also knew that it was also my last opportunity to take a picture for the day as I expected to not be home until after midnight. With that in mind, I took a quick shot, forgetting I had already done a leaf in March. Oh well, under the circumstances, I am still ok with it.
March 27th, 2011 - Day 86
This little teeny bottle carries a fragrance in it that makes Jessica smell SO good! It is almost magical!
March 28th, 2011 - Day 87
I LOVE Dia De Los Muertos stuff. So colorful!
March 29th, 2011 - Day 88
I didn't think it would ever come, but the nice weather is finally here! Welcome, Spring, I have surely missed you!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Rain, Rain, Go the HELL Away!
I don't know about you and where you live (you three or so loyal readers who aren't family living in town), but we have been having some damn ugly weather here of late. In fact, it is downright horrendous and it seems like it has been nonstop for weeks and weeks. I am not one that minds cold because really, there is nothing better than curling up in a warm blanket. It is comforting. But add the nonstop rain and wind in and it is horrible. I can appreciate a little bit, but when it persists for this long, it is a big nuisance. It also leads to damage that can cost money. Nothing fun in that. So please, weather gods, make this garbage stop! A couple of pictures for ya...
Winston sure does enjoy being on the sofa with us. In fact, I think he is almost too spoiled as he almost ALWAYS wants to be up and this is not how things fly in this household! But still, he is so darn cute and hard to turn down.
Despite the rain being annoying, it can sure make for some pretty pictures. Still, I wish I could go outside with a rainstorm knocking me over!
Winston sure does enjoy being on the sofa with us. In fact, I think he is almost too spoiled as he almost ALWAYS wants to be up and this is not how things fly in this household! But still, he is so darn cute and hard to turn down.
Despite the rain being annoying, it can sure make for some pretty pictures. Still, I wish I could go outside with a rainstorm knocking me over!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Pain Sucks
As promised, here is the bad news I was talking about a couple of posts ago. For those of you who don't know, Jessica has a horrible right knee. To be more specific, she has a degenerative joint disorder. Not much she could have done to prevent this, it's just part of genetics. But this genetic misfortune has led to her having basically zero cartilage in her her knee so that she is bone on bone. Imagine your bones rubbing against each other with nothing to cushion them and occasionally, they even catch on each other. It's horrible just to type and she is the one that has to live with it, while working 12 hour shifts as a nurse who is always on her feet. It sucks and she lives in constant pain. She has been dealing with it for a couple of years now and even went to a couple of doctors who misdiagnosed her. It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that we found a great doctor who found out the true cause and came up with a treatment plan. So, a little over a year ago, she started the process towards a better knee. Step one was a minor surgery where they went in and scraped some of the cells around her knee so that they could be shipped to Boston to grow. That surgery kept her out of work for about 6 weeks.
So, a little over a year later, she was ready for step two. The cells were grown so that the cartilage being inserted into her knee were her own cells and not something they got from a cadaver. After all, what better to insert in your body than your own cells, even if they were grown in a lab. Why so long after the first surgery was the second? Well, this second surgery was to keep her out of work for up to 6 months and it takes a long time to build up that much time off. We were all ready to have the surgery, to start Jess on the road to living a pain-free life, even though the recovery promised to be long and arduous. However, the day before surgery, we got a call that the cells, in their final step of growing, did not grow as needed in time (it was something that needed to be done right before surgery) and the surgery would have to be cancelled. She was DEVASTATED. Imagine constant pain, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and having it taken away at the last moment. It was even hard for me to take so I can't imagine her feelings.
So where do we sit now? Well, they are trying that last step a second time and seeing if it works this time. The rep from the company talked to her on Monday and said in his 9 years with the company, he has never seen it not work so Jessica was a first for him. I am sure she is not happy about having that distinction. But for now, we keep fingers crossed that this second attempt works and in 11 more days, we are supposed to find out if we are on track to give this surgery a second try. If we are on track in 11 days, we will have another 2-6 weeks for the actual surgery and in that time, we give it a go that nothing goes wrong. Until then, we just sit, wait, and hope. She doesn't deserve to be in pain like this.
Until then, I guess I will just keep kissing that knee and hope it does something to ease the pain.
So, a little over a year later, she was ready for step two. The cells were grown so that the cartilage being inserted into her knee were her own cells and not something they got from a cadaver. After all, what better to insert in your body than your own cells, even if they were grown in a lab. Why so long after the first surgery was the second? Well, this second surgery was to keep her out of work for up to 6 months and it takes a long time to build up that much time off. We were all ready to have the surgery, to start Jess on the road to living a pain-free life, even though the recovery promised to be long and arduous. However, the day before surgery, we got a call that the cells, in their final step of growing, did not grow as needed in time (it was something that needed to be done right before surgery) and the surgery would have to be cancelled. She was DEVASTATED. Imagine constant pain, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and having it taken away at the last moment. It was even hard for me to take so I can't imagine her feelings.
So where do we sit now? Well, they are trying that last step a second time and seeing if it works this time. The rep from the company talked to her on Monday and said in his 9 years with the company, he has never seen it not work so Jessica was a first for him. I am sure she is not happy about having that distinction. But for now, we keep fingers crossed that this second attempt works and in 11 more days, we are supposed to find out if we are on track to give this surgery a second try. If we are on track in 11 days, we will have another 2-6 weeks for the actual surgery and in that time, we give it a go that nothing goes wrong. Until then, we just sit, wait, and hope. She doesn't deserve to be in pain like this.
Until then, I guess I will just keep kissing that knee and hope it does something to ease the pain.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Under the Bed
March 21st, 2011 - Day 80
"The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle."
— Stephen King
— Stephen King
Another entry in my "Fear" series.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Ready For My Close-Up
Haven't had the time to blog or post pictures in a while. All macro pictures the last 4 days. Not going to write much as we got some pretty crappy news tonight. Will talk more about it tomorrow.
Any guesses on what this is?
We got iPhones finally!!!
Looks better than it tasted...
Cactus on a red wall
Any guesses on what this is?
We got iPhones finally!!!
Looks better than it tasted...
Cactus on a red wall
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Nobody Plans To Be Alone
March 15th, 2011 - Day 74
In anticipation of Jessica's surgery next week, she made a gargantuan grocery list so that we will be fine on food for the next few weeks and have enough for countless meals I can cook. I shudder at the trip to go buy all of this.
March 16th, 2011 - Day 75
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
-Helen Keller
I opened the garage today and this tennis ball somehow rolled out of my garage and into the gutter. Something about it screamed photo opportunity as it seemed so lonely and beaten in that gutter filled with water.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
-Helen Keller
I opened the garage today and this tennis ball somehow rolled out of my garage and into the gutter. Something about it screamed photo opportunity as it seemed so lonely and beaten in that gutter filled with water.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Viewing Fear
March 14th, 2011 - Day 73
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear."
--- H.P. Lovecraft
Another entry in my fear series. Is it a scary movie she is watching or something much, much worse?
Ideas for future entries?
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear."
--- H.P. Lovecraft
Another entry in my fear series. Is it a scary movie she is watching or something much, much worse?
Ideas for future entries?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Speed and Fear
Just a quick post showing the last two days of pictures.
My father-in-law just got himself a Harley so when he came by yesterday, I had to snap a picture. I am sure I will take more when I have more time as it is a beauty!
"Fear is contagious. You can catch it."
-Neil Gaiman
-Neil Gaiman
Marvel has a new epic storyline coming soon called "Fear Itself" that will run throughout many of the different comics. I'm going to try to do some fear related pictures in honor of the upcoming series.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Close Calls
I don't know what I was thinking, but Wednesday night, I went to bed without taking a picture of the day. It was only after I turned off the lights and started to doze that I realized that I had not taken a picture of the day. I ran and grabbed the camera and took a quick snap of Jess. It wasn't until later that I realized I took a similar picture last year. Being that the day was already over when I realized this, I HAD to go with this picture. So, in processing, I turned the image to black and white, turned up the red a little in her already reddish eyes, and there ya go, Jess is suddenly a vampire. Team Jessica.
The night would go on to be very short lived. A little before midnight, we got a call from Jessica's stepdad that her mom was in the hospital and not expected to survive through the night. She has been in poor health for a while, but it wasn't a call we were expecting. And it was certainly not something Jessica needed having lost her stepmom a little less than a year ago. So we quickly got ready and drove the two hour drive to the Bay Area in 90 minutes. We stayed at the hospital until around 5am and then, with her mom looking somewhat stable, went to the house for a few hours of crappy sleep. But in the morning, her mom was awake and talking, and breathing much more than the 2-3 times per minute she was breathing when she first got to the hospital. We stayed with her until around 3:30 before leaving to go home, convinced and confident enough that she had taken a turn for the better and was going to pull through again. One time while sitting in the waiting room, I took the shot below. I think it captures the coldness that a hospital can bring out sometimes. Cold and empty.
We were in bed by 8PM upon arriving back home after a very long night/day. Today was spent catching up on work and taking it pretty easy. Jess wasn't as lucky as she had to go to work. I might have worked even more than I did, but I was glued to the TV a lot with everything going on in Japan. While taking a shower today, I actually thought of today's shot. It wasn't quite the angle I originally wanted, but I am still pleased with how it came out. I do love playing! Something tells me that Machete needed to bring more knives to the fight!
The night would go on to be very short lived. A little before midnight, we got a call from Jessica's stepdad that her mom was in the hospital and not expected to survive through the night. She has been in poor health for a while, but it wasn't a call we were expecting. And it was certainly not something Jessica needed having lost her stepmom a little less than a year ago. So we quickly got ready and drove the two hour drive to the Bay Area in 90 minutes. We stayed at the hospital until around 5am and then, with her mom looking somewhat stable, went to the house for a few hours of crappy sleep. But in the morning, her mom was awake and talking, and breathing much more than the 2-3 times per minute she was breathing when she first got to the hospital. We stayed with her until around 3:30 before leaving to go home, convinced and confident enough that she had taken a turn for the better and was going to pull through again. One time while sitting in the waiting room, I took the shot below. I think it captures the coldness that a hospital can bring out sometimes. Cold and empty.
We were in bed by 8PM upon arriving back home after a very long night/day. Today was spent catching up on work and taking it pretty easy. Jess wasn't as lucky as she had to go to work. I might have worked even more than I did, but I was glued to the TV a lot with everything going on in Japan. While taking a shower today, I actually thought of today's shot. It wasn't quite the angle I originally wanted, but I am still pleased with how it came out. I do love playing! Something tells me that Machete needed to bring more knives to the fight!
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Spring
March 8th, 2011 - Day 67
Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
~Robin Williams
~Robin Williams
I know the calendar says that it is still a couple of weeks until Spring comes, but try telling that to the trees and bushes in my neighborhood.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Friday, March 04, 2011
Young and Old
A few quick ones tonight...
Winston has now figured out how to jump on the steps of the spa and drink the water. We try to keep from doing it, but he can be persistent sometimes!
The Little Engine That Could No Longer
Winston has now figured out how to jump on the steps of the spa and drink the water. We try to keep from doing it, but he can be persistent sometimes!
The Little Engine That Could No Longer
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
The Rain
March 2nd, 2011 - Day 61
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.
-G. K. Chesterton
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.
-G. K. Chesterton
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Face Your Fear
March 1st, 2011 - Day 60
“Fear is a habit; so is self-pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can!! and I will!!”
Don't be afraid of the scale. It's there to help you. How many other friends will ALWAYS tell you the truth no matter what?
I actually just bought this scale as I sold my Wii recently and that was the only scale in the house. Truthfully, that is all we were using our Wii for so I got some money for it and bought this guy. I know people have different views of weighing in...those who only like to do it weekly vs those who like daily. I think with this, I would like to see the daily weight as I think it can keep ME more on track. With my 5k a month away, I have to keep at it.
“Fear is a habit; so is self-pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can!! and I will!!”
Don't be afraid of the scale. It's there to help you. How many other friends will ALWAYS tell you the truth no matter what?
I actually just bought this scale as I sold my Wii recently and that was the only scale in the house. Truthfully, that is all we were using our Wii for so I got some money for it and bought this guy. I know people have different views of weighing in...those who only like to do it weekly vs those who like daily. I think with this, I would like to see the daily weight as I think it can keep ME more on track. With my 5k a month away, I have to keep at it.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Happiest Place on Earth
If you didn't know already, I am a Disneyland NUT! Seriously, it is totally my happy place and when I am there, all worries go away. Last week, we got to go again courtesy of my more than generous parents who treated us as a Christmas present. We left before dawn on Monday morning for the trek down to Southern California and were in the park by 2PM, I believe. We spent that first day in California Adventure as it is now tradition to go straight to Tower of Terror. It was also fun to go because it was sister's first time since they built California Adventure. Unfortunately, as a preggo, she couldn't go on some of the best rides! We were there all night and it was simply beautiful once the sun went down.
The next day was Jessica's 33rd birthday! How lucky for her to spend the day in the park and have everyone tell her Happy Birthday all day!
Even more fun was the fact that we got to eat in the VERY exclusive Club 33 in Disneyland, a member's only club that many people don't even know exists. The food and ambiance were AMAZING and it was once in a lifetime experience. How many others can do Club 33 on the day you turn 33?
Wednesday was out last day and we spent it in both parks, trying to get as much as we could in that final day. Trips go so fast! Of course, we had to go on Tower of Terror one more time!
Thursday was sad as we had to drive home, but guess what? Our next trip won't be too far in the future! Yes, with Jess about to go out on work leave for up to 6 months because of her knee surgery, we opted to buy a year pass as we figure we can get in a couple more trips while she is out. With her out and my flexible schedule, it should happen! This is so exciting! For the first time ever, I am a season pass holder!!!
We came home to an awesome sign created by our wonderful friend, Yvette, who watched the dogs for us while we were gone. As the dog lovers we are, this sign is absolutely perfect!
While in Disneyland, we bought a ton of memorabilia, including finally getting a toy of my favorite Disney character, the alien from Toy Story. I have been wanting one for a while and finally got one, no matter how overpriced it was. Yes, a few days after leaving Disneyland, I was still taking pictures that reminded me of the place! Here, the alien looks out for, "The PAW!"
My last two pictures of the day have been strawberry related! Last night, we made the most amazing strawberry shortcakes and today, I opted for something a little closer.
Yup, that should catch me up...
OH! Of course it was so hard to limit my picture of the day to just one Disney picture each day so if you like, check out the slideshow of all my pictures from the trip. There's some winners in there to see. Trust me! Click here!
The next day was Jessica's 33rd birthday! How lucky for her to spend the day in the park and have everyone tell her Happy Birthday all day!
Even more fun was the fact that we got to eat in the VERY exclusive Club 33 in Disneyland, a member's only club that many people don't even know exists. The food and ambiance were AMAZING and it was once in a lifetime experience. How many others can do Club 33 on the day you turn 33?
Wednesday was out last day and we spent it in both parks, trying to get as much as we could in that final day. Trips go so fast! Of course, we had to go on Tower of Terror one more time!
Thursday was sad as we had to drive home, but guess what? Our next trip won't be too far in the future! Yes, with Jess about to go out on work leave for up to 6 months because of her knee surgery, we opted to buy a year pass as we figure we can get in a couple more trips while she is out. With her out and my flexible schedule, it should happen! This is so exciting! For the first time ever, I am a season pass holder!!!
We came home to an awesome sign created by our wonderful friend, Yvette, who watched the dogs for us while we were gone. As the dog lovers we are, this sign is absolutely perfect!
While in Disneyland, we bought a ton of memorabilia, including finally getting a toy of my favorite Disney character, the alien from Toy Story. I have been wanting one for a while and finally got one, no matter how overpriced it was. Yes, a few days after leaving Disneyland, I was still taking pictures that reminded me of the place! Here, the alien looks out for, "The PAW!"
My last two pictures of the day have been strawberry related! Last night, we made the most amazing strawberry shortcakes and today, I opted for something a little closer.
Yup, that should catch me up...
OH! Of course it was so hard to limit my picture of the day to just one Disney picture each day so if you like, check out the slideshow of all my pictures from the trip. There's some winners in there to see. Trust me! Click here!
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