it’s not about you

I just want everyone to know that my husband hooked me up with this blog. I don’t know nuthin’ about any of this techno geek stuff. All I can work is Photoshop, and compared to his mad skills, mine just look sad. When I can’t sleep at night, I ask him, “Honey, tell me about CSS.” He says, “Really?” And I say, “Yeah.” He says, “Well what do you want to know?” And I say, “Anything. I don’t know anything about it.” Then he begins telling me what it is, how it came to be, how it works, what is does, blah, blah, ZZZZZZ….

Okay, so that only worked once. He’s quick, that one. All this to SAY, he put the blogroll on there. That’s why I have no links yet. And my categories are all messed up. most of those are categories he created before the great blogivorce of 2005. I need to scrap the list, come up with a new one and recategorize all my posts.

Yeah. Right. Right after I make those monthly digital photo albums. And set up an archive system for my photography business. And mop my kitchen. And do Nanowrimo. And make those scrapbooks from the two copy paper boxes worth of chidhood memorabila I’ve been carrying around with me since I moved out of my family’s house. And make that cookbook of all the recipe clippings I’ve collected. And scan in all those hard copy things in our too-small file box. And scan my CDs to organize my digital music library. And all those other things that I want to do in the next six months. Oh, and play with my kid. Yeah, that too. And feed my family, and keep our living space liveable, and go my day job, and spend time with people i love.

First thing tomorrow.

cause I had a little free time…

click here

via the onion.

I was fine being home alone with Joshua and Judah down in Waco this weekend visiting Nana, Papa, and Uncle Taylor, until I opened the medicine cabinet to get my toothpaste and noticed Judah’s toothpaste wasn’t there on the shelf with mine. The cabinet, and suddenly the apartment seemed big, empty, and quiet.

I made do with TWO hot baths today, and being curled up in bed by myself watching Amelie. Of all the productive things I could be doing with the house all to myself, I don’t think there was a better way to have spent my afternoon. Especially considering how busy I’m going to be with my two photo shoots this weekend. Tonight and all day tomorrow I am shooting the Damaris Project’s National Gathering, and then Sunday i am working all afternoon and evening on a project for my friend Tommy’s website.

I’m glad for the opportunities and for the work, but I really want to be with my soulmate and my baby having fun with the Waco Rudds. It’s been a bit since we got to hang in Waco with people we love (cause let’s be honest, that’s the draw for going to Waco). I think we’ll get to go down in two weekends — it will be the World Hunger Farm’s Fall Farm Day that Saturday and we missed the Spring Farm Day so I’d really like to go.

This weekend, Nana is going to work on Judah’s Halloween costume - she’s going to be Dorothy. Last year she was a munchkin, so it’s a natural progression. And she’s already got the shoes.

I miss my family. I’ll see you guys on Sunday.

So we were gone for a bit over a week at various places. I’m hoping to find the time, energy, and state of mind to blog about some of our adventures, but for now I have to share with you a story about our solo mobile phone.

As most of you know, Joshua and I only have one mobile. Shocker, I know, but we’re on a budget. I took the phone camping this weekend at Robber’s Cave with people from our church community. Judah and I were riding with my good friend Angela in her car (as we are now carlesss). As we were coming back and pulling into my neighborhood, Joshua called to find out where we were. I told him we were about home and we finished the conversation as we pulled into the driveway. Excited to be home and see my husband, we quickly gathered all of our belongings and set off to get inside the house. Judah was giddy, and Joshua wanted to show us all the work he has put into our bikes.

I didn’t notice until the next morning that I couldn’t find the mobile. I called Angela at work to tell her I think I left it in her car. She didn’t take her car to work that day, so she would have to wait til she got home to look for it. She called that evening to tell me that she looked all over her car and couldn’t find it — she checked the pockets in the door, under the seat, around the gear shift, even in the glovebox, and could NOT find the phone. It had to be in her car, because it was the last place i had it. So she tried to call it. She could hear it ringing and vibrating, and it was right there, but for the life of her she could not find it. Until she pulled herself out of her car and stood up, and our phone was ON TOP OF HER CAR.

She then told me that after she dropped us off, she drove the fifteen minutes to the Poe’s house to help them drop off their stuff, and then she and Curran went out to eat at El Fenix, and THEN she went home. Her car sat in her carport the whole next day.

Our mobile had been on top of her car the whole time. Is that cool or what?

from the New York Times:

As with the pregnancy storyline, motherhood will allow “Alias” to present an ultra-heightened version of the concerns of regular women, and also to have fun with how a family of spooks might handle a newborn. For instance: Jack Bristow, Sydney’s emotionally distant father, may be able to disarm a nuclear weapon, but can he assemble an Ikea crib? Mr. Pinkner said he wasn’t sure: after all, for Jack it will be “the first time in 20 years he’s used a screwdriver for its actual intended purpose.”

It’s official, people - the Honda is dead.

Joshua, Judah and I were on our way to McKinney last night to borrow my dad’s car for this weekend’s trip to Houston. Per Shannon, we were not allowed to take our car to Houston. We wanted to get it in time to take our car to the mechanic for a diagnostic, as it’s been making funny noises. Right smack dab in the middle of the High Five, I notices a smell like burning rubber.

I asked Joshua where that smell was coming from, and he said he thought it was from our car. Sure enough, smoke was beginning to seep out from under the hood. Now the problem with being smack dab in the middle of the High Five, is that there’s no where to pull over. I began praying and hoping we would at least make it to the next exit, while simultaneously trying to decide which is faster is the car catches fire — unbuckle Judah from her car seat or unbuckle the car seat from the car? and managed to call my dad to tell him what was happening.

We managed to exit and cross over the freeway into the nearest parking lot and ordered Dr. Pepper’s at the Denny’s there to wait for my dad and the AAA tow truck (best part of the day - hearing Judah say “wrecker.” that’s just cute). We had it towed to Christian Brothers in McKinney and dropped the key through the door with instructions to run a diagnostic.

They called back right before I got home from work. The guy on the phone told Joshua he is amazed we even were able to drive it that far — that it didn’t literally fall apart on us. The tires weren’t stabilized and could’ve come off, the compressor’s out but the belts are still turning, causing wear, there’s blown gaskets all over the engine, oil is leaking from several places, and it’s likely the timing belt is about out.

The damage? It’s gonna cost us $4000 to fix the car. Picture that $4000 in all caps, will ya? The blue book value of the car after it’s fixed? $3000.

Anyone want to buy it for $500? It’s yours, plus the cost of towing. Heck, I’ll make it $400 plus. So if you feel like contributing to the helmet-and-baby-bike-seat fund, feel free to contact us.

I laughed so hard, I cried…

I like poetry, long walks on the beach, poking dead things with a stick…

from this site.

I’m very excited about my latest photo project. Pray it doesn’t rain on the 23rd.

And the one on the 22nd, too, but it doesn’t matter if it rains that day…

We’re buying a tent this week. Any suggestions?

I bought some new camera gear recently and I have been told I need to blog about my acquired items. I got a new lens, which I am very excited about. It’s an 18 - 200, 3.5 - 5.6. Not the fastest, but it has quite a range and is designed for my digital camera, unlike my 35 - 80, which is for my N90, which kept getting stuck out of contact and not registering its f-stops with my camera. I kept having to wiggle and jiggle it to get the contacts to connect properly. I like my new lens. It takes really nice pictures and lets me take a range of pictures — I can take a wide shot and then immediately zoom without having to stop and change lenses, which is cumbersome, especially during moments when lots of things are happening at once.

I have missed the wide angle — that’s the problem with digital, it narrows everything. I have had many instances where I have had to step REALLY far back to get what I needed in the frame, and I am loving my 18. I would love a 14, and have one in mind, but that costs way more money than I will have in the near future.

My other purchase was new gear bag. I’ve had a fanny bag, which is great for hands-free work and keeps all my gear attached to my body, but it’s old and falling apart and needs to be retired. I bought a backpack, which at first I didn’t want, I wanted another belt pack, but I really like this bag. Instead of being a regular bag, it’s more of a messener-style bag with the bulk of the backpack — one cross-should strap, with an additional buckle to connect for more support. Since it goes across me, I can swing it down in front of me and have immediate access to my gear. the main pocket zips from the side, so it’s designed to give you two-handed access. That was the selling point. There’s also plenty of space for lenses, strobes, and misc. gear, as well as mini pockets designed to hold memory cards, biz cards and small personal items. A bigger space near the top perfectly fits my wallet, keys, video camera and a couple of diapers. Perfect for the photographer mom. And it fits comfortably, too, so I can carry it and shoot at the same time.