Friday, September 3, 2010

Random Round-up

Our lil’school kid LOVES school! My husband and I have seen a turn-around in (what could have been awful) behavior. We love the new school, too. The teacher is high spirited and super friendly, but keeps the kids in check with rules. The class is very small; our child is 1 of 6 in the class. Each child gets undivided attention from the teacher: A+.

Since school has started, the Hubby and I have had to change our schedules a bit… I go in before dawn, so I am able to pick-up the rug-rat before the after school care starts. My love/hate relationship with this new schedule is slowly growing more to the “love” side. Although, I doubt I will ever like getting up at o’dark-thirty in the morning, I LOVE getting off work after my afternoon snack. :) It is almost like I have added hours to my day because I am able to get so much more accomplished. I even cook dinner!! Don’t worry… you won’t be invited until I know my meals won’t kill anyone. I figured my family has iron stomachs, so they’re good… ;)

I am making some major life changes… it will take quite a while to get them worked out, but we are very excited about these changes and are very much looking forward to them. :) Not at liberty to post too many details, yet…

Friday, July 9, 2010

yay...

bilateral ear infections...

joy. joy.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

2-fer

And catching-up from several months of not blogging:

Air Force:
Nope… not gonna happen for me. Am I sad? A little. Am I glad? A little bit more glad than I am sad. I’m not so sure I am cut out to be IN the military. Oh, I could do it. I just don’t want to. I’m spoiled and lazy; and I know this. I know this now more than ever since I couldn’t even lose 10 stinkin’ pounds to make my “goal” weight. Humiliating... but I’m not bitter. I know this wasn’t for me because if it was, I would have chosen it long ago, or I would not have had to jump through my self-imposed fiery hoops to make some lousy weight-loss goal—I would have already BEEN thin enough. Plus, everything happens for a reason (one of my favorite life-mantras); and this didn’t happen for a reason.

Kid’s say the darndest:
My Hubby (singing): “I’m-a-be- I’m-a-be- I’m-a-be”
Our child (singing): “I’m-a-be-bumble-bee-I’m-a-be-bumble-bee”

School:
My kid’s birthday is the last day of the school year cut off: 8/31. Here children have to be 5 before 9/1 to start school. My kid barely made it. We thought about letting our little sponge-of-knowledge sit out the first year. But, back in April we received a letter from the daycare saying the whining was too much and we had 2 weeks to find another sitter. In a scramble we found one that is conveniently located between mine and my husband’s office. Although this daycare is more convenient, there are 16x more kids the same age as our child. So, we thought we would try school this year… School starts 8/12.

Weight-loss:
Well, this is more about NOT being a vegetarian. I guess this is just one more thing I will not be doing this year. I still want to. I KNOW it is tons more healthy for me and I would probably lose weight if I stopped eating beef… well, meat, in general. I’m not good a cooking beans. Everything I try… fails. Miserably. I want to learn how to can/jar fruits and veggies. In my mind, that goes along with being vegetarian—it’s just the next logical step. I’m completely open for someone to help me get started… like send me links to sites that articulate clearly in a step by step way to slowly remove meats and slow add other protein sources. My husband won’t eat a lot of soy meats… so, what else can I do, besides beans?

Ok… enough rambling. It’s time to go soothe my killer sore throat.

Sheesh… it REALLY hurts. :(

Fire cracker

The weather has been too hot to go outside.

There are tar balls on every beach within driving distance.

So, I’ve been hanging out with the wee-one and now we share the same cold.

Lovely.

Seems odd to feel feverish, achy, with a sore throat so sore you can barely swallow.

The chest and sinus congestion are imminent.

Maybe next week will be better.

I have a few maternity session images remaining to edit.

My last wedding is DONE. Until the bride decides she’s ready for her proof book.
(Secretly I hope she never calls me.)

I never get good shots of fireworks. It’s not that I don’t know how.
Oh, no. I know how. I just never bring everything I need, i.e. my tripod.
And between my lap and my husband’s lap our child never finds the “perfect” spot.
But here is my favorite:



I’d like to think that next we I will get better images.
Alas… nothing with ever compare the Independence day of 2009:
National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

WILD!!!

I've been couponing and like most "hobbies" I adopt, I have become OCD about the whole experience.

In my OCD of organzing and making everything simple, I have lost my binder with this week's coupons and ads. It's upseting because there were some store credits in there that are lost. I have gone back to the store multiple times inquiring if someone has turned it in. My name, contact info and reward if found are included within the documentation. Alas... still missing. :(

One site I have found and really enjoy, in addition to a couple others, is http://www.wildforwags.com/. Christy over at WildForWags posts deals and sales for Walgreens. I love this site because she gives scenario ideas with and without Register Rewards. She also has prizes she gives away... This week, she is giving away $25 in Register Rewards. This will come in VERY handy considering I have lost all of mine.

Please visit Christy over at WildForWags and learn how you can save on your personal care needs...



Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010

500 Photographers

Someone must have been reading my mind. I was thinking it would be great to have one place where I could find some awesome photography (aside from my own portolio, of course)...

And here it is... Pieter Wisse has done it.

For 100 weeks five photographers will be featured weekly in his latest blog created April 10, 2010.

Maybe you will see my work one day. :)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Maybe it is me...

Recently, I've been getting the feeling people, in general, do not like me.

It became realized today when I joined a "mom" forum.

As customary, I posted an introduction in the "Pleased to meet you" section...

Zero responses 12 hours later; 14+ views.

Since I signed up, other people have also posted "New here" threads...

Four or more responses...
Each.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Tears to... smiles?

Cuddle bug started a new daycare today.

It’s more of a “school” environment, with a library and cafeteria.

Big, gigantic crocodile tears fell this morning…

But, no one saw because I was driving to work.

I hope my baby did better than I did.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Whiney Baby!

Late Friday night my husband was going through our kid’s daycare diaper bag and found a “Letter of Termination” from the director of our kid’s daycare. The letter reads:

“Please accept this letter as notice of termination of care for your child. As per our contract agreement, I am provided a two week notice and last day of care will be April 23, 2010. Your child’s whining is getting progressively worse. It is getting to the point where it is beginning to disrupt lesson time. I feel your child may not be happy here, and might do better in another daycare setting. I wish you and your family all the best.”

My child is two, the youngest in the daycare, an only-child, recently potty trained (training) and has sever pollen allergies. I’m thinking my child was more of an “inconvenience” to her and/or the staff. Ok, I understand children whine and complain and cry, etc. But when a two-year-old does it there is obviously a level of attention is missing. Either the child is feeling jealous, mistreated, neglected or afraid. Generally, they don’t whine to be annoying.

What really brings out my anger about this whole situation is my husband and I was not given the opportunity to a parent-teach conference, we were not given the FULL details of the extent of the whining; all we were told when we inquired about the day was “whining at lesson time.” THAT’S IT!! She never made us feel like it could cause her to terminate care.

We were shocked, to say the least.

THEN, to FIND the letter IN the diaper bag without having told us to our FACE!!

OMG… I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how angry I was.

But… as my favorite mantras goes:

“What comes around, goes around” and
“Everything happens for a reason”

So, even though we have been running our like crazy people trying to find a suitable caregiver for our child, we know this will be a change for the better.

ETA: Hind sight is 20/20… after talking with my husband we now realize she might be right about our child not being happy there. Today we have a very happy, smiley kid. Again.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Feeling Inspired?

I am. I always feel this way when spring gets here. And this year is no different.

I am lucky to have several photo ops this spring (and summer) with some very special people.

Stay tuned and see what's coming...

Monday, March 29, 2010

Going Vegetarian. Again.

Considering going vegetarian.

Again.

When I was growing up I was not able to mentally tolerate meat. Everything about meat simply made me feel queasy: the smell, look and texture of raw meat. Blehk!! And then knowing it came from an animal made it even worse. I wasn’t able to eat eggs until about 5 years ago. Even today they make me cautious. I still do not eat anything on the bone—like chicken wings, T-bones, etc.

So, with that… Here is what I have cut out:

100% pork
90% seafood
75% beef
50% turkey
25% chicken
15% milk & eggs.

I’m loving hummus, tofu and eggplant. I’ve been introduced to TVP, and I’ll give it a go soon.

Feel free to share links to vegetarian recipes… I’m always looking for better, new, different recipes.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Money is the root of all evil

You know...

It's one thing to borrow money because your spouse got laid off and your kid needs milk.

It's another thing to borrow money because you eat lunch out every day, go to the movies and shop, and now you can't afford to pay your light bill.

Don't ask me... The answer will be: no.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Without peanut butter, please.

Airplanes are a huge part of my life and my family's lives. I've talked about the Air Force on this blog and how my husband is a pilot, so you can deduce for yourself our child loves airplanes, too.

(My lil'cuddle bug is the cutest kid ever and I am giggling at this story as I type out the event.)

Often times I will prepare a caramel flavored, peanut butter covered rice cake for my breakfast. I offered to prepare one for Cuddle Bug and asked if it was preferred plain or with peanut butter… the response:

“AIRPLANE!!”

So, without haste, I delivered a plain rice cake.

“There ya go, Sweetie! Enjoy!”

Next time I might actually cut it in the shape of an airplane.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

2010 Mercedes Marathon

The 2010 Mercedes Marathon was held this past Sunday, February 14, 2010.

My husband ran the 2nd leg of the marathon relay. The majority of the course was flat, except for HIS 5k, the 2nd leg of the relay. But, considering he has never ran a 5k before and the difficulty of the leg, I am unbelievably proud of his 38 minute time. Each finisher received a medal, pictured below. The Marathon winner was Daniel Ellis. He completed the 26 mile race in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 57 seconds, with an average pace of 1 mile every 5 minutes and 35 seconds. Amazing.

It is so funny to see people dressed in costume running a marathon. But they do... and when they do... I take their picture.

I think the bib number for the "fairy" is from a previous year or previous runner. His looks slightly different from the one my husband has and the bib from the football runner. Either way, this guy ran a freakin' marathon in a fairy costume.

And I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it myself at the first transition where my husband started, but the football player... ran the FULL marathon... IN UNIFORM!! The picture below is of him taken at one of his last turns. The time on the clock at that turn was under 3 hours, 50 minutes. You can't do that well and stop to take off the gear. Seriously, dude... YOU ROCK!

Note: Neither of these participates are my husband.



Monday, February 8, 2010

My CFE is complete!

I have successfully completed my CFE exam. I took the last exam on the 365th day after initiating the prep course. One year and 1500 questions later, I am a Certified Fraud Examiner. How should I celebrate?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Circus Fun

Took wee-one to the circus last night.

We had too much fun.
A two-year-old's ADD made it a bit frustrating in that we had to repeat ourselves:

"Sit down"
"Turn around"
"Do you want me to hold you?"

Although the attention span was short, the impression was made...
We talked about the elephants and tigers as I was preparing to post these images.