RazNoggle

Ugh…..

That, in a grunt, is how I feel about mornings. EVERY morning. I’m not a morning person. So many people say that, but I say it and MEAN it!! I wish I was a morning person. I wish I could rise early, enjoy some quiet moments before the day and the family start to stir, wish I reveled in the sight of watching the sunrise. I’ve always said that there’s no big deal in a sunrise, it’s just a sunset in reverse. I LIKE sunsets. I’m awake at sunset time. Sunrises only serve to remind me that I’m awake WAY too early! LOL!

Can you change the “morning person” “not-so-morning” person part of yourself? Do you think? I don’t know. There have been stretches of my life where I did indeed have to get up at a wretched pre-dawn hour for various reasons. Believe me it wasn’t because I wanted to. I went one semester at college, or maybe it was the whole year, getting up at 5:30 each morning. It was awful! Then my work hours changed and I was working 12am to 3am or 3am to 6am shifts and that was bad too! I’d rather work the 3-6 shift because then I was awake already for first hour. The other one left me very very cranky because I still had to wake up by whatever time 7:30? to have my bed made for room check. Silliness….

But that’s neither here nor there. I still despise mornings. I often resolve to change my grumpy-got-out-of-wrong-side-of-the-bed self, but the resolutions usually only carry me through till bed time and by morning I’ve lost them in my sleep.

I haven’t been sleeping well recently. I’m usually ready to go to sleep at around 7pm, seriously I get so tired right after dinner! Just about the time I’m wrastlin’ with the kids through their bed time ordeal. Well, not Ella, she LOVES to go to bed, and I so enjoy that stage!! But the boys put up a monstrous fuss every evening. So by the time they are down-ish, I’m more than ready for some quiet evening time. But then I get my “second wind” and I’m wide awake. I’ve tried recently going to bed earlier like 9 something, but then I lie in bed and toss and turn till I think I’ll loose my mind! Trying to find sleep, when sleep isn’t trying to find you is the most useless waste of time! Bah!

However, the past couple of mornings, I’ve been staying away from the computer more and spending a bit more time interacting with the lads. Really all I want to do in the morning is nurse my coffee and stay curled up in a fetal position in the overstuffed chair, or escape into cyber land! I can’t do that though. It, much like the witching hour, is a time of day when the boys really REALLY need me. Even if all I’m doing is helping them put away toys that were left out, and pretending to “hide” behind my hands till they get close enough to grab and tickle, it makes a HUGE difference on their daily outlook. Mine too, if I’m honest. How can you not be happy when you’re causing your children to shriek with laughter because you’re tickling their tummies!?!

I’ve been convicted about my lazy, irresponsible reaction to mornings. Yes, they are a challenge, I’ve grappled with that fact my whole life. BUT they aren’t going to go away, and I can’t just pull the covers over my head and ignore them. As much as I’d love to!! I have an e-book on my computer called “Maximizing Your Mornings.” I’ve had it on there for awhile, but haven’t got around to reading it. I don’t like reading stuff like that on my computer, so I’m going to attempt to put it on the Kindle. I’m sure there are some brilliant ideas in that book, but what it boils down to is me choosing to NOT be selfish, and think of my kids instead of myself.

The difference is astounding. The last couple of mornings, the boys have played together better than they have in weeks! Seriously! And I think it is in part because they’ve had a bit more real mommy time in the mornings. Sometimes that makes all the difference.

Here’s the long awaited post. Before’s and After’s, but please don’t judge the photography. There are a lot of pics so I’m going to keep words, to a minimum. I’m sure you can appreciate that!

This was the original kitchen. This house began it’s career as a double wide trailer, which my inlaws gradually added to, changed and basically rearranged while they were living here. The kitchen, however, had kept it’s old original self complete with 70′s style wall board, and plywood cabinets. This is how it looked.

Shortly before Myles was born, I had this fit of “I can’t take it any longer” so my bro, James came over and hugely helped me paint it. Except we didn’t bother with INSIDE the cabinets so you could still see the old wall board. It was a sloppy job, but the colors were vastly improved. And I knew that my Dad-in-law was planning to redo it all someday, so it was a temporary fix.

Here’s us painting.

And here’s what it looked like painted.

Now let the reno begin! I have to say again and again just how grateful we are to Curtis and Tiffany for ALL the hard work they did on this kitchen. Curtis is a working machine, and you’d better stay out of his way, or you might end up tiled. BUT I was simply amazed with what they did in the time they did it!! WOW! So you wanna see, huh? huh?

This is what Curtis had to start out with.

He got it sheet rocked, moved/built a couple of walls, taped and uh.. mudded? Oh yeah, he makes it look easy. I know one thing, construction will never be my gift.

New plywood on the floors, some carpet removed, sorting out where the cabinets go.

New light fixtures, sink, AND (ta-tum) garbage disposal!!! Oh, and Curtis did the rewiring, plumbing and all of that too!

Tile work begun. They built a bar from scratch, and tiled the WHOLE countertop and the floor!

Tiffany did all the painting, bless her! She also worked out those strong muscles and helped Curtis hang the upper cabinets! Lookin’ good!

THE BIG REVEAL

It’s beautiful!! I absolutely LOVE it!! It’s so fun to be in there and cook in the “new kitchen.” Even Ella loves to squirm across the tile and sit and watch while I work in it! Ha! It’s an amazing space! We’re still slowly sifting everything into it’s new home, but these cabinets are amazing!! Couldn’t ask for a better kitchen!

Thanks so much Dad Noggle!!! You’ve got great ideas! Perhaps your next career could be an architect! And thanks SOOO much Curtis and Tiff for your work! You guys amaze me! I get tired just watching you, ha ha ha!!

I’m so incredibly behind! I have a million things to do today and the list just keeps getting longer. I already have that “stressy-panic-y” feel, but instead of relieving some of that by just getting it done, I’m blogging. Yes, I’m a completely messed up person, but you love me anyway. Actually blogging, for me, is therapy of sorts, and I’ll be much better capable of dealing with the rest of today if I spend a few moments here. Besides, I blog fast. Thoughts just leak out through my fingers and I can hardly type fast enough to keep up. Glad for spell check, now if only they could put a “think twice” check on here too, THAT would be something!

Anyway, here is what happened to me yesterday. I think I’m still spinning from it all and that’s why today’s loops have thrown me a bit more. But no big deal, I’m going to roll with the punches, and leave some laundry in the dryer till a more convenient time, and I’m NOT going to make my bed, so there! Ha!

I was telling Stuart recently that I’m interested in taking a Zumba class that I saw a flier for in “town.” I don’t know much about Zumba, but I do have some FB friends who rave about it, so I’m interested. Besides it’ll be a good way for me to get out of the house and away from the kiddos once a week. I tacked on the added perk of getting our shopping out of the way so that it won’t have to be done on our busy-enough Sundays. Stuart likes the idea, so last night I was going to go check out the Zumba class. Just keep in the back of your mind, the fact that “town” is nearly an hour away…. K? That figures in just a touch.

First I needed to drop something off at the UPS Store. Having done this, I realized that I needed a bathroom break, but I was also starving. Conveniently I located a Subway (my favorite fast food, because it’s not sopping in grease, not that it’s probably much better for ya, mind you, but it makes me FEEL better, ha) and made a bee line for the restroom. Wouldn’t you know it with 3 employees doing not much of anything apparently, there was NO tp in there. GRRRRRRRR!!! So now I was starving, had to go, and peeved. I was nice to the guy making my sandwich though, didn’t want him sneaking anything in there that didn’t belong. But I did tell him once he was ringing me up. Ha! Then I grabbed my sandwich and marched out. I scarfed it down while I was driving back toward Wally World, but I took the back road so I could find the place where Zumba was to be. While I was glancing at the buildings on that street I noticed that there were a lot of lawn chairs set up on both sides, and people were starting to gather. Uh-oh. Apparently there was a parade going to happen later for…. something.

Oh well. I made it to Wal-Mart and was crossing the parking lot, dreaming about the bathroom stocked with tp, and talking to Stu on the phone about which card I needed to put our purchases on. Now, here’s where things get really funny. We have recently switch from a “real” bank to an online bank, and all of this happened while I was in Albuquerque, so when my cards for the new accounts came in, they got put in my “in box.” In case you don’t understand that word, it’s a HORRIBLE contraption of torment and torture for those of us non-GTD-zelots. *sigh* Stu is working on me to become more of a compartmental organized person, but I think it’s uphill work for him for sure. Anyway, I ignore my inbox to the best of my ability till it’s overflowing and obnoxious and then I generally purge it by dumping most of the contents into the trash and stashing the rest in various “other” places till my procrastinating soul can manage to deal with them. (don’t tell Stu!) BUT right now it’s been quite some time since my last purge, and I never found, or activated my new cards. Since we had still been using the old accounts some too, this wasn’t THAT big of a deal until yesterday. I failed to realize that the old accounts had actually been completely transferred and canceled. Uh-oh! So when Stuart asked me which cards I had and I told him, we realized I’d have to come right back home.

Unfortunately the vehicle was on E! I did have a little bit of cash in my purse, which doesn’t go very far on fuel these days, so I figured I could get enough to make it home. I headed out toward our normal gas stop, and it wasn’t till I got on the road that I realized I’d never made it IN to WM to use their bathroom! Yep… one of those days, ha ha ha!

When I got to the gas station I did a thorough search of the vehicle to see if there was any loose money floating around. Hey, ya never know? And I happened to find my honey’s wallet since he had been driving that car to work! Yay!!!! He did have the new cards, BTW because he goes through HIS inbox very regularly. So I called and told him the good news, filled up the tank and planned to head back to WM to get our groceries! Yay!

However, when I left the station I was thinking about something. I can’t remember NOW what I was thinking about but I do remember thinking, because I was kinda driving on “auto pilot.” Safely, of course. But suddenly I “came too” and realized that I was traveling WEST on the interstate instead of back East to get to WM!!! Arg!! See, we stop at that station every time we have a “town trip” as the last thing we do before heading home, so it was just natural for me to get on the road home. And while the HUGE skies and open spaces out here are awesome when you’re jaunting down the road going somewhere, they also have drawbacks in that there aren’t very many exits, and they are FAR between. And while I may be a bit reckless in some ways, I’m not gutsy enough to use those “Official Use Only” crossovers. *sigh* So I had to drive miles… yes lots of them, down the road before I came to an exit I could take. LOL! Oh, but I had used the well stocked bathroom at the gas station, so this was quite a bit more bearable than it could have been.

After that things went more “normally” if shopping in that Wal-Mart can. Still it’s more fun to do by myself than with the monkeys, so I did enjoy the time. However by the time I got out it was already well past when the Zumba class would have been over, even considering they had one. I had heard several mentions of the “parade” while I was shopping, and wasn’t that willing to try to find parking and then walk all over down town to check on the class anyway. Oh well, there’s always next week.

Now I have the cards I need… though my inbox is still a hot mess, and I’m more prepared to face life… and grocery shopping.

The End

I’m trying to get back “into” blogging. Our whirlwind life in July kinda knocked me out of my groove. But I’ll find it I’m sure. I’ve already scheduled a couple more picture posts for your enjoyment. Now you’ll just have to sit and stew in anticipation till they post though, Ah ha ha ha ha!

Last night I took a bath. (chorus sings hallelujah) I was trying to imagine myself in this tub I discovered on pinterest.

I tried…. really I did… but being cramped into our itty-bitty bathtub, I just couldn’t. A big tub is on my ‘must haves’ list for my dream home. Maybe not everyone is “into” them or thinks they are necessary. And actually, they’re right. It’s not necessary, it’s a LUXERY, and oh it’s so nice to sink into a BIG bubble bath and read a book and unwind. Listening to Andrea Bocelli or Josh Groban is a help too!

Speaking of book reading though, I couldn’t read in the tub last night. Not because of the teeny tub but because I’m now totally addicted to my Kindle!! There’s no way I’m going to get it anywhere close to water though! Ya know, if you drop a paper book in the tub, it’s a bummer, but if you drop your Kindle in the tub…… !!!!!……. that’s like loosing your whole library! Ack! So, not gonna do that.

I’ve been reading L.M. Montgomery’s “The Story Girl” and “The Golden Road.” I can’t believe I never knew about those books before!! How did I miss them? They are the books where the Avonlea series characters come from. Not to be confused with the Anne series, though. I never knew it… imagine, all this time. The tv series takes some liberties with the characters, of course, but it’s interesting now to read the books they were pulled from after the fact. I’ve read more this last week since Stuart gave me the Kindle than I’ve read in awhile. Love it! I know people are saying it’s going to be the death of bookstores, but it’s really an amazing device! Saves so much space too! Woo-hooo!!

Our “new kitchen” as Qade calls it is very nice! I like to be in it and cook in there! I’m still learning where I put everything, but otherwise it’s great! I’ll be posting a before/during/after picture blog for you soon. But I’m lazy right now and having to go back through the photo library (which is extensive, and not at all organized) is a daunting task at the moment. Patience, patience, my good friends!

The lads are both getting some “potty training boot camp” this week. Or actually, maybe it’s me! What happened is I forgot my shopping list when we left for our Anniversary weekend away. (Happy 6th Anniversary to US!) So when we stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home to get the essentials, I completely forgot pull-ups! Now as essential as those things are to our daily life, you’d think that I’d remember them before milk, but I didn’t. Qade of course only wore the night time ones, but I admit that I was lazily training Myles and he wore them more frequently than he probably should for a potty training lad. So the little oversight has forced me to dive in and just get it done. Myles now wears unders all day except nap, which thankfully we had enough left over to cover! And he’s doing quite well!!! I’m very happy with his progress! Yesterday he woke up from nap dry as well so that’s great! Qade, has given up night time pull-ups and thinks that he is pretty big stuff to be able to wear his unders to bed. Trying to limit his evening intake of fluids is more difficult, however. So it’s been 3 days of night time unders, and 2 were dry one he woke up at 6am wet. Not bad! I’ve been getting him out of bed to go one more time before I hit the hay at night. So lots of progress in the growing up department going on.

Ella bella is so fun now that she’s mobile. Ha! She still isn’t crawling on knees, though she “thinks” about it frequently. She seems pretty content to mermaid across the floor. Unfortunately it makes her shirts very dirty! No, I don’t have sparkling clean floors all the time, and honestly these carpets could use a good shampoo…. but who’s going to do that? Did I ever show you her mermaid crawl? No? Well, here it is! Enjoy, ha ha!

It’s gotten better since then. This was the first couple of days she was doing it. It’s amazing how quickly she can move! She’s a quiet one too, so you never know when or where she is going to show up!

Stuart is back to work. The kids came on Monday, and now it’s back to the grind. *sigh* Can I gripe for just a moment? IT’S BEYOND RIDICULOUS TO START SCHOOL THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST! WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SUMMER TIME????? Okay… thanks, just needed to get that out. I can’t get over it, never will. I’m glad that we’ll be homeschooling, and don’t “HAVE” to start school in the middle of summer. Silliness!!! But Stu is glad to see “his kids” again, and they all love his class, so that’s good.

Well, I’d better be going. I still need to take the trash to the dump, something Qade is thrilled about, drop off some stuff at the Post Office, fold a MOUNTAIN (seriously) of laundry, figure out how to get some gum out of someone’s (who will remain nameless) shirt, any tips there?? And I’m drooling over some biscotti recipes that I want to try this afternoon. PLUS I have a fringe blanket and a couple of “apple” hats in the works…. and of course my Kindle reading. So I’m pretty swamped. Better get to it!

Toodles!

I’m listening to Jungle Jam with Qade. ha ha ha! It’s funny. Luckily for us my sis-in-law Joy said they have several more disks of Jungle Jam stories! Whew! We’re in serious danger of having these ones memorized. Strangely though there is one song, (a nice melodic lullaby like song) that Qade thinks is “scary” at night. He’ll scream and cry while that song is playing. So I need to make sure that particular one doesn’t end up on the bed-time play list. Weird.

We’re guarding our internet bandwidth jealously. So I’m not on FB much again. It’s outrageous what they charge you for just a bit of internet. If you have a smart phone you should check your bill. You’ll be plenty surprised that you’re probably paying $30 or more for just a few gigs of internet. And they’ll tack on significant fees for going over as well. Since our options out here (a mile from nowhere) are nil we went with a Verizon wireless card, but we still have to be very careful not to go over our “limit.” *sigh* Whatever happened to unlimited internet??? Oh well. I’m happy that I can update my blog and check FB now and then. It’s really no big deal since I’m spending less time in front of the computer anyway.

It’s been raining recently in a Monsoon like pattern which is nice. It’s been SO dry out here the bushes are chasing the dogs around! Seriously! But the past few days it has rained in the late afternoon/evening, and that cools things down nicely! Not that I’m complaining about the heat, mind you!! I feel like I’ve only recently thawed out so it’s welcome to be warm for awhile. I was sorting the lad’s winter clothing this week, and just looking at the long sleeves and sweaters made me feel cold! Ha ha ha!! We should move to somewhere tropical…. if it wasn’t for the bugs I might be tempted!

My camera is in the shop, and I miss it badly!!! Apparently something “major” has to be replaced on it. Their service orders are so unhelpfully descriptive. So I have to approved that repair online tomorrow. There’s a wedding coming up that I’m really going to need the camera for, so I hope it can be a quick fix. I was also hopeful that the warranty would still cover it, but apparently Nikon lenses have a 5 yr warranty but the camera body’s only have a 1 yr. So no luck there. I should be happy that it’s only so much after 3 yrs of pretty strenuous use, but I’d rather not have to sink money into it right now since I really want to save for an upgraded camera. Oh well. Stuart has several “entry” level DSLR cameras for his class at school and he brought one home. Yesterday I tried to take some photos with it, and could NOT figure that thing out to save my life!! How in the world do you shoot Manual on a D3100?? I couldn’t figure it out at all, and was really shocked when the flash just pops up all by itself. Ha! Who would have thought that an automatic camera would be so difficult to use?! Anyway, Stuart will be using it as my second shooter for the wedding. I wouldn’t trust myself with that one in any way! I hope my baby comes home soon! *sniff*

Anyway, I’m off to enjoy another Summer day! Toodle-oo!

Somehow this post never got posted. So here’s our camping trip in a nutshell.

I am happy to say that our first family tent camping experience was a success!! I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I went into it with some fear and trepidation as I was sure that none of us would sleep and that it would be more miserable than not. But I underestimated my kiddos and they did so well!

We went with Stuart’s family and it was fun to hang out in the woods/mountains together. The boys had a blast playing with their cuz Aiden, and it was interesting to listen to all their little made-up adventures. Myles got the biggest kick out of putting gravel and dirt in his shorts till they could hold no more and then standing up to have it all come pouring down his legs. Yeah… he was filthy!

Ella did phenomenally well! She had her little pack-n-play bed and didn’t mind taking her naps in the tent one bit. She LOVED watching the 3 dogs who came along on the trip as well, and now says “Doh” repeatedly if you say something to her about a “dog.” She had her own personal little play tent to roll around in courtesy of Auntie Tiff and Uncle Curtis.

The first night Myles kept squirming out of his blankets and waking up cold, but that was the only challenge. Ella had a little “suit” to wear thanks to her Auntie, and it had a hood on top and feet to keep her nice and toasty. She slept like a rock so it must have worked. Qade slept very well also, though I don’t know how he could not with as hard as he was playing all day! I will say that I do prefer my bed to any kind of sleeping on the ground, but the little air beds that we had worked really well. I was only slightly sore. Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a wimp!

I think that 2 nights is about the max that I can do the whole camping thing right now. Stu said he was ready for 2 more nights!! Even though I had a great time, and the kids all had a great time, and even Ella had dirt under her nails, I was very ready to pack it all up and head back to a shower after 2 nights. We’ll work our way in slowly to more, but now I’m not dreading it so much since I know it can be a ton of fun!

Today was the doctor visits for our oldest lad and our little lass. I hate the “well-visits” because typically they involve shots. Shots make me sad. I think they bother me ever so much more than they ever bother the kids. BUT all things considered I’d rather go through the immunization process than face debilitating diseases.

Anyway, we missed Ella’s 6 month visit which the doctor asked about because she said, “That’s not like you.” Ha! I told her the truth, that it fell right in the middle of senior portrait season and since I’m a photographer (I’m trying to get used to saying that) it was impossible to bring her in. They put all this weight and importance on these visits every 3 months, but if there’s something I’ve learned since having 3 kids it’s that mommy instincts are usually more “right on” than doctor advice, and while it’s nice to see where they ‘line up’ on the lists, it’s no big deal if they are ahead or behind a bit on certain milestones. Anyway, Ella is in the 90% for her height at 29 inches, and I didn’t see what she was on her weight, but she weighs in at 18 lbs 11 oz. She’s a tall skinny gal for sure.

I also didn’t see Qade’s percentiles, they don’t offer that info and I’ve stopped asking because of the stink eye the nurses gave me when I’d ask before….. just curious, really! But he weighs 34.5 lbs and is 40in tall. He’s also a skinny shorty, but I’m sure he’ll be just as tall as he needs to be. I feed my kids as much as they’ll eat, and more actually because sometimes I insist that they clean their plates, so I know they aren’t starving. Stu and I were both string-beany kids, and I imagine they have fast metabolisms. Not worried at all, and in fact am rather relieved that they don’t already suffer from the childhood obesity that I see so often in the small children of this area. Breaks your heart really.

They both had to have 3 shots today. Qade went first because I kept telling him that he was going to have to be a brave boy, and I didn’t wan him to see Ella’s reaction before his turn. He did well, but by the 3rd poke he did start to cry. Then it was done, he earned his tootsie-pop by being SO brave, and he was fine. Stu was with me in the doc’s office today, I determined NEVER to try to take more than one child by myself ever again! Ugh! So that was a huge help, but he told me ahead of time that I would have to hold Ella when her shots came up. He doesn’t like for anyone to hurt his sweetie-pie so I understood. My mommy’s heart doesn’t like it either, but I’d rather be able to hold them and comfort right away, so it was okay.

After all the doctor drama was over we met up with Grandma Noggle, who was hanging out with Myles, and then she took Ella home while we took the boys to see Cars 2. Since they are HUGE Cars fans we figured it would be the perfect outing for them. We were right! I had seen some stuff on FB about other mom’s opinions of the movie and was a little unsure of if I’d like it or like them watching it, but it was really fine. 007 cars style would sum it up pretty well. I’d have to say that the Harry Potter preview that came before was MUCH more disturbing to me, and we tried to keep the kids’ attention away from it with popcorn. Good grief!

We watched in 3D and the boys each had their own little glasses! Ha! I so wish I could have taken a picture of them sitting on the edge of their seats (literally) with those glasses on their face! I thought for sure that Myles at least would be taking his off, he’s not one for sunglasses even, but I guess the movie actually distracted him from the fact that there was something on his face.

It was fun to have that time with the lads. Qade was really sore after the movie from his shots and probably his legs dangling off that chair. But some lunch from Wendy’s and a frosty later and he was good. I was a sucker and picked up one of the “new” character cars for each of the boys. Qade keeps asking me what their names are. They aren’t as familiar as “Lightning McQueen” but they will be, I’m sure. Ha ha!

So it was a good day over all. I’m hoping that the kids will sleep well tonight and the shots won’t make them too miserable tomorrow. It’s usually the day after shots when my kiddos don’t do so hot. Good thing we have Tylenol and Motrin at our fingertips.

Toodle-oo

Ahhhhh, Colorado! (HUGE SIGH)

We went back to Southern CO. for our 4th weekend to spend with Stu’s family. Wow! Just driving in is amazing! The Mountains on the north western side of the state are amazing, but I just have to say that this section of CO is my favorite. We drove through Durango… well, just skipped it, but that area, and from then on it just got more and more beautiful!!

It’s been so dry everywhere, and here is no exception, but to our desert parched eyes, it looked like a lush oasis! The mountains are magnificent but even the valley farmlands are amazing! As we drove through, Qade would pipe up from time to time, “Mom, I saw a pretty tree, did you see it?” or “I saw a waterfall!! I saw three ones!” And at the top of the pass, “There’s SNOW on those hills!! May I go touch the snow?” ha ha ha!! Our little lad loves CO too and he has only spent very small bits of time here.

It really is like a cool refreshing drink to come back up here and breath the mountain air, and see the rivers, that actually have water in them, imagine! See the mountains with the snow, and all the green growing things!

My photographer side was thinking things like, “Oh that would be such a great backdrop.” and “Look at those amazing flowers, that would be the perfect spot for a photo of Ella!” and “That green field would be awesome with a chair in the middle” and “Wow, what an awesome old barn! Wouldn’t that look great in a Senior portrait?” Ha ha ha!

I’m trying not to be too jealous of all this amazing scenery in this place. I know we have awesome stuff around us as well. Colorado colors are more to my taste, but AZ is beautiful too. Gotta grow where you’re planted, even if you don’t get enough water. Ha ha ha!

So anyway, it’s been fun to be in Colorado. I’m writing this before our amazing camping adventure which is about to begin, so be prepared for that one. I can make no promises at this point what “tone” that post will be in. Ha ha ha!

Ha! I bet you have been waiting for this! I know I’ve been talking incessantly about the conference, but it really was a great time. I’ve come to the firm conclusion that getting away for a few days by myself for some me time or me related activities is something that I NEED! I’m going to make a very strong effort to have that happen once a year from here on out. Not necessarily that I’ll go to a conference every year, but that I will get away alone, and recharge. It was great to come home after the conference and just have renewed energy for my daily life activities which before had been growing very monotonous. Good stuff!

So the kitchen plan is in full swing. Our garage is full of drywall, cabinets and countertops! I’m not thrilled about the process, but I’m very excited to see how it all works together in the end. Now that I have seen the colors of the cabinet and counter I need to get some new paint! I love color and want to go a little more bold and bright in the kitchen. My first inspiration was the fresh color of cantaloup when I was chopping one up for dinner one afternoon. I just happened to find that EXACT color when I was meandering through the paint aisle last week. I haven’t sold Stuart on it yet, but I hadn’t seen the cabinets yet either. Now I need to put the swatch up to them and see if that’s even a possibility. I do have some other ideas so if I cant have a cantaloupy kitchen then I’ll have a different one I’ll like just as much. Ha!

Anyway, Our camping adventure is coming up. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I’m happy we’re doing it as camping is something that we’ve talked about always wanting to do with our family. On the other hand I cant help but think they might be a bit on the young side for this to all be fun and games, ha ha! Either way it’ll be memories in the making. I’m sure we can survive anything for 2 nights right?? Right?? Hello???

I have had to send my baby #4 in to the doc. In case you’re all holding your breath, that would be my camera! Ha ha ha!! I’ve been having issues with the auto-focus function on the camera. At first I thought it was my lens. The one I like to use the most for portraits doesn’t really have an option to manually focus, so it’s just about impossible to use w/o autofocus. I sent the lens in first, but it came back saying it was all good, and the problem was still obvious so that means, most likely, that it’s a camera issue. I hate to send it in. Mostly I hate to be without it. But I’m hoping that it will be something that can be taken care of easily. *sigh* In the meantime I still have my point and shoot, but it’s so hard to go back to using it. Ha!

So that’s about it for now. Stay tuned for more non-conference news.

So today began the chicks who click conference. This is my first conference of this kind, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I am enjoying it. Social situations aren’t my most comfortable place to be…. okay…. they stress me out, how’s that for some truth. But honestly I am/do work on it regularly. I realize that it’s a weakness of mine and I make conscience effort to do better. And I believe that I am seeing progress, but it’s still not my favorite thing. But I’m more than willing to tackle an army of strangers to get some more tools in my photography belt. Oh yeah.

The first day didn’t start till late afternoon because it was registration and all of that. I did meet some other photogs and get to chat some about what makes them tick, and that’s fun! Since I’ve found it so difficult to find an actual mentor I have been finding them in other places like FB and such. That makes this a prime opportunity to really learn a lot and pick up some great inspiration as well.

Last night I met Tira of Tira J Young photography, and Jennifer Price of Focus Photographers. It was fun to get to chat with them, and swap cards. I for sure feel like the “greenie” of the bunch, though I know there are other newbie photogs there as well. I met a jolly gal from the Fort Worth area who I’m sure has NO issues getting people to smile as her’s just lights up the room. I also met Heather from AZ who does awesome work with babies and gave me some advice on some “must have” baby workshops.

So I’m soaking it all in… well, almost all. I avoid the “happy hour” free wine and such. Just the smell makes my stomach turn. Part of why I’m not much of a socialite I suppose. ??Still I’ve been very pleased with the gals I’ve met and haven’t felt the least bit snubbed, which was a bit of a concern considering some of the drama that goes on with photogs on line. Ha! The last session I went to last night was a lady who’s been doing photography for a long time, and is good!! She shoots film, still, and doesn’t know a thing about photoshop which I find absolutely awesome! It’s one of my major goals to be a “first capture” shooter, though I will probably always play with the levels a LEEEETILE bit. Anyway, she talked about a gallery show that she did and how she got all of that together. Stuart and I have already come up with a personal project of that kind that we would like to do, so it was neat to see it worked out with what she did.

Great times! I’m really looking forward to today and what they have planned. I’ll be skipping the evening “girl’s night out” gathering, but don’t worry, they’ll have more fun without me, and I’ll for sure be having more fun. I’m really excited about some of the break-out sessions that are coming up on Saturday. So I’ll keep you all informed.

Have a great weekend! Wait… it’ll be over when you read this. Hmmmmm… Hope you HAD a great weekend in that case. Toodles!