Insert Title Here.

I took a million and one pictures over the last couple of days. And if I could remember how I made the slide show the last time, I would do it again. But I've got sometimers, which happens just before Alzheimer's.
This is one of 3 of Kelly-Next-Door's Shelty puppies.
Linus's grass nose.
Sally's "You did what?" eyes.
These are the cards I've made recently. The camera is set on User Def. 1, which Bruce from PW set up as Vibriant. I have more but they don't seem to want to be added.



I took this one because I wanted to take a picture of a bunch of things all lined up, with the first one in focus and the last one out of focus. Makes me wish I had more than 2 kids to take pictures of. Wonder if I can get the kids and dogs to line up?


I'm grumbly. Work was...well, it was work.

I think the only bright spot in my work day was when Chericce asked if I liked my camera and I yelled out YES! And Elizabeth said I sound just like my mom when I laugh.

Linus was extra good for most of puppy school. The little turd made me look stupid, he was the best heeling dog in the world when the instructor was looking. Very frustrating. Again, she said he was The Most Stubborn Golden she's ever seen. At least he's really good at something!

6 degrees of something or It's a small world.

Went to a funeral today. Of the maybe 20 people there, 10 were from my mom's side of the family. And out of the other 10 people, I was related by marriage to 2 of them, and 1 other I had met years ago through other people. It was a very small, very simple funeral.

I found my silly Maya Road scrolls, in the bottom of my AMM tote. A strange place for them but oddly enough I remember putting them there, at least 3 weeks ago. So I was able to get my layout almost done, just needs some final embellishing.

I'm waiting so very patiently for my Silhouette to come. I sure wish I had it for tonight's class. And I finally ordered the Copics my dad has been harassing me to order, I got a few extra things for Emily.

I've got a jam-packed day tomorrow and then I will be able to play some more with my camera. The picture above is from our deck looking about Toovey Road, I used my big lens. I think I will try to remember the technical terms, but for now it's big and little lenses.

I'm supposed to be making my layouts for my class tomorrow but I am dwelling on the fact that I can't find my brand new Maya Road chipboard scrolls. I bought them, I fondled them and then I put them in a secret place, obviously, because if I put them with my other tins of embellishments I would be happily scrapping along. But now I'm focused on finding these things and not focused on the fact I have less than 20 hours to come up with a 2 page layout for my class.
I have decided they are not here, on the computer, nor are they on Facebook, in my sticker box, or in any of my paper holders. They aren't in the bathroom, at the dog park or in Kerry's truck.
Arg.

Saturday.

Kerry and I took his mom for lunch yesterday. I took my camera because afterwards Doreen has bowling and we were going to watch for a bit. I pulled it out during lunch and got this great shot of her. I am seriously going to put a different lens on my camera today, but I so love the 50mm. Tara says I can't always have 'blurry background' pictures. I beg to differ.

Kerry's mom bowls in the same league as my grandpa. He's 91 and still bowls a better game than I can, twice a week. When you turn 90 and can still bowl, you get to for free. When his team members collect the fees every week, grandpa is so funny, he doesn't tell them that he doesn't pay...in his words "There's no need to broadcast it". If I live to be 90, I'm getting a t-shirt made. And grandpa's so 'on the ball', he took one look at my camera "it's a Canon", "how much? $_____?" Darn it, he knew exactly what that baby cost us. He wanted to know what kind of film, he's got a decent camera and some interest. So I explained the whole digital thing and his main concern was that I would have to buy more cards, he thought once they were full, that was it, so then I explained the whole uploading to the computer thing and I think he's got it. I wanted to get some shots of him doing what he loves, he's 91, making changes to his will, all his friends are moving on, and I don't want to ever say "I wish I had some pictures of grandpa". He's my only living grandparent now. He's grumpy, he's practical, he plants a mean garden, and he's mine. I want to get some shots of his garden this spring. Puts my weed patch to shame.
Kerry and grandpa can always carry on a good conversation, this is how I have found out many a thing about him. He really opens up to Kerry. Too bad Kerry's thinking about his truck and licking his lips.
For all Kerry's fine arts/graphic design knowledge, he can't take a picture to save his life. This one took about 10 tries. It was the only one worth keeping. Silly Kerry. He even made sure his elbows were braced on his chest.

Today, I am going to put a different lens on my camera, not because I want to but I will probably be forced to. Tara B.(I don't actually know any other Taras and it bugs her) anyway, Tara B. and I are taking a photography class! Very exciting.

On the homefront, all walls are painted, some carpet has been taken out. Much to our dismay, it is glued to the original lino. Sally leaned against the living room wall and now has blue hair on one side. She was so freaked out about it that she almost leaned against another wall as Kerry was trying to get her out of the living room. Poor thing.

And as you can see, I haven't been making a single thing, with classes most of next week, I better put the camera down and get a move on.

Still smitten

We met Tara and Harley at the dog park. Of course, Sally and Linus hit the mud bog first and then both of them went in the lake without any prompting. I think Sally spent the most time in the freezing cold water. She was the first to run a greet some of the dogs, she's come a long way. Linus take off to greet people, but always came back when we called him. I think he only jumped on Tara 423 times. And Harley and Sally didn't fight.
I wanted to take my camera but then was worried, I could trip, I could fall in the lake, a dog could jump on me, but Kerry said I'll never learn to use if I don't take it out. He's so wise.
This is a dead tree, we were convinced something was in the hole. I think we decided it was a lemur.

Emily looking pretty bright, she was home again sick, but we thought after 4 days of sitting on the couch, she should go for a walk.
Tara took this one, too bad the dogs didn't cooperate.
This one is my favourite.

Of course, none of the pictures have Shaun in them. We do have one that has the 3 of us and Harley, so Shaun said we could Photoshop his head on to Harley's body. I might just do that.
We have a first coat on the living room, and most of the dining room. Kerry is stippling the ceiling in there so I can't finish the painting. We are hoping to pull up carpet today. Did I mention we have 2 layers of carpet, a layer of underlay and lino in some rooms? Really looking forward to that.

Still loving my camera, today I might actually put the other lens on.

Happy Leap Day!!! I can't ever remember 'celebrating' Leap Day. But I see lots of businesses are with sales and such, weird. If you don't get a Leap Day card from me, don't feel slighted.

Loving It

There are many things I love, and when I find something I love, I promote it. Like Diet Coke, Kal Tire on Hwy. 97, potatoes, and Kerry to name a few. And Karen Russell for posting all her camera and lens tips, I printed a bunch out and took them with me to the camera store, they were a huge help.

I love love love love love my new SLR camera and the 50mm f1.8 lens. I haven't even unpacked the other lens. So as boring as it might be to you, here some very exciting pictures for me. Right out of the box, no instructions read, very much like a male would do. Not photoshopped.
Anyways...

The first picture is in my scraproom, and the first thing I saw was my AMM tote. Pretty self explanatory.
The next two are of the dogs. Not the best, but for low light, better than I would have gotten 2 days ago.

My snack, a good, healthy one...those chips were yogurt and not sour cream.

My Ipod (this also is proof of my spoiledness, but I didn't ask for this, it was a gift).
And Shaun, who will sit still long enough for me to snap a picture, even though it doesn't matter, my new baby is super fast!!!

And more of the dogs...they are such good dogs for putting up with me and the camera. They just might be the most photographed dogs in town.







So that's it for the first day. I was afraid of all the buttons, of how fragile the lenses are, and how heavy the camera is, but I have to say, I love it. I know I have to try the other lens, but I am so loving the clear subject/blurry background photos.
We're taking the dogs out for a walk, I want to take the camera, but at the same time, I'm afraid to. I need protection, like a clear, plastic box for my upper body.

Repeat Post?

I posted a similar blog post back in December...when I got a certain most beautiful necklace.

I'm spoiled, I know it, Kerry knows it, and so do you.

This is a long story, about guilt, love and more love.

I contemplated a camera, for about 3.2 seconds. Actually it was longer...
We had to take Shaun's car in for a muffler and had a bit of time to waste. If you are ever wondering how much a person can spend at London Drugs in less than an hour without moving their feet, call me, I can tell you an approximate amount.
I said let's go look at LD and take the Andre's flyer(they had a better price, but bad customer service). Maybe they match prices...Ha Ha Ha, it will waste some time. Well...time was wasted, money exchanged hands, knowledge was gained and dreams were made reality...that's so corny.

I had my Karen Russell Camera Tips and we had a very nice LD associate, by the name of Robin H. (used to work at the old scrapbook store by Wendys). I fully intended to just look, really, just looking. But then there was this voice from another section of the store saying "just get it all, just do it". And really, it wasn't in my head, or my sub-conscience, it was Kerry in the dvd section. You see, Kerry just bought a truck and a new windshield for the truck and I guess he's feeling 1)guilty or 2)rich or 3)endorphins from getting his 'dream mountain biking truck'. What ever it was netted me a huge new camera stash, huge! My 'dream camera'.


I am now the very sheepish owner of a Canon Rebel XTI, Canon 50mm F1.8 and Sigma 18-200 OS lenses, and the usual filters, flash cards, and 3 year warranty (a must-have in my books). Originally, I was getting the camera and kit lens and the Sigma lens, but then I really wanted the 50 f1.8 and Robin said the Sigma was a better all around lens. But I really want the blurry background, really! So then Kerry in the dvd section says again "get it all" to which I reply using my slow math skills "that's over $_____!" and he says "just get it". I look around, yes, that's my husband, no aliens hovering around. I know where it's coming from, 'truck guilt'. And Kerry also added in regards to the smaller, cheaper lens, "what's another $130 when your spending $_____?" To which Robin says "it's 10%" I don't think that's the answer he wanted...

So then I'm paying for it all and Robin says the total amount and Kerry says "what? how much?" and Robin says "she told you her estimate and you said, and I quote "just get it all". Kerry was just joking, and we all had a nervous laugh.

When we got home, Kerry said the blood letting had to stop. I think he means the spending. I'll check tomorrow after I go to the scrapbook store.

I must read my Digital Photography for Dummies while my battery is charging.

Again, I'm a spoiled girl! A lucky, spoiled rotten girl!

The PULL

I'm having some issues...trying to decide what to do...buy a camera, or wait.
Wait for what? I'm not sure.
Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to take stellar photos. To get the action shots, the bright colours, the shots that make our day.
My Canon S2 IS has been a great camera, and because I'm just a beginner, it's been perfect for me. I do love it. But I'm starting to play with the settings and different modes and am finding there are just some things that won't work. Like low light indoor shots. I hate my flash, I hate the effect it has on eyes, and skin colour. But I love that my camera is not huge, I don't need a camera bag to carry it, although I can't put it in my pocket or in a small purse. And my camera is going on 3 years and is showing some wear and tear.
Kerry's all for it, if it means getting some fantastic shots of him on his mountain bike. Some of the magazines he's gets have been inspiration, check them out the next time you are at Chapters, I think they are Dirt and Decline. I find them very inspirational for scrapbook layouts and the photos are beautiful. One issue had a section on the type of cameras that the contributing photographers use. Most still like to use film, most have a Canon Mark I or II or something like that, I had to google it, it's huge, it's expensive, way too much camera for me. I know I'm not going to get the same shots, but with an SLR, I will get better than what I can do with my IS.
But then I think of the price, the fact I will NEED more than one lense, battery, but not a case, I do have one already. So maybe I should get a camera just because I have the case. And when I think of the snowball effect it will have, I cringe, I think about the so many other things I can spend my money on. And I do believe some one just got diamonds in December.
Oh, woe is me...what to do?
What would you do? What do you suggest? Am I missing anything important?

Hey!

I wanted reassurance that Linus's behaviour would stop, maybe he'd grow out of it and now I know enough people to start a Surviving Goldens club! Memebership is free, but you must have or have had a Golden Retriever, and survived it.
'Everyone' tells Kerry that 2 years is the magic number and that all will be good after that. I say 'b@llsh!t, don't hold your breath'.
We have/had good intentions to take him out today but are into our 3rd day with flu kid. Trying to get Pedialyte into this kid and she acts like it's torture.
I mudded, sanded and primed the walls and we are ready to paint. Kerry took 3 days off incase I needed to go to Seattle, and in the end, I didn't, yet or so I have been told. I'm happy that Tara B. doesn't have to go, yet.
And so we are working on the walls, tearing up the carpet and removing doors. And in between all that we are picking up the 'new' truck from Yolanda and Duncan, and then insuring it. Linus and Sally will love sitting up in front with a full window view.
I'm waiting to take my camera in to the shop, I want to take some pictures in the next few days and will be totally lost without it. Which means that maybe I should buy a bigger camera so that I am not 'missing' any picture worthy moments. Decisions, decisions.

Question(s) of the Day

Why is it that a 13 month old Golden Retriever can sit for ever and a day waiting for popcorn to pop but can't sit for 5 minutes at obedience training?
Why is it that the same dog can almost heel perfectly at the same training class but avoids walking beside us at home?
Why does this same dog sit on command at home but act like I'm speaking Cat at class?
Why does every article I google say that Goldens are people pleasers when it's very obvious this dog isn't out to please us, just himself? As in "Let's dig to China because it's fun, who cares if mom/dad is yelling at me, they must be cheering me on", or "I thought I heard someone call my name, no, I'll just keep chewing rocks and those voices will go away" or "You have a treat? Give it to me. What? You want me to sit first? No, give it to me first, then I'll think about sitting".
Why won't this dog eat zuchini but thinks drywall is the next best thing to liver? I'm pretty sure I could roll myself in liver and he wouldn't look at me, but get some drywall dust on my pants and I'm a treat.
Why is this so important? I want to have at least one dog that can walk to Starbucks, sit on the patio, and have a coffee without growling, pulling, or crying. IF I get to do all those things, great, if Linus gets to, I'm okay with that too.

Still Monday...

I forgot to mention that in our 'what's good for the gander, is good for the goose' relationship, I mentioned that because Kerry was most likely getting a truck with his bonus AND new shocks for his mnt. bike that I should be able to get a QK Silhouette AND a camera. Both of which would come no where near the price of the truck, and he said....



OKAY, GO AHEAD AND GET BOTH.

And after I got up off the floor, I said and you won't believe this...I said "no, let's wait."


But I did just order the Silhouette, extra blades, a font, and extra mats.

OOOHHHHH I'm so excited. I better make some room on my desk.



Edited to Add...I started painting, I couldn't wait. I started small, just a bit of cutting in on the walls that won't need primer. I think the colour is gross. I'm sure it will be better once the old colour is completely covered but right now, it's baby poop brown and tan.
And...I got an email today from Scrapbooks Etc. and will be paid U.S. funds for my Bird Family Tree Frame, instead of getting a goodie bag. Which is nice, I can then buy my own goodies. So the estimated date is July 08. I will have a book sigining the first week of July. bwahahahaha

Monday Blah.

Emily brought Monday in with a vengeance. She wasn't feeling great yesterday, but we wrote it off as not enough sleep and not great choices in snacks while at the grandparents. But last night we were awakened by that terrible sound of a child getting sick at 3 a.m. This might explain my unsettled stomach all of Sunday, which I attributed to our Belated Valentine's dinner. We went to Da Tandoor and had a wonderful dinner. The butter chicken is to die for. The service was great and we got free parking. We came home, walked the dogs and rented 3:10 To Yuma. And I don't like Russel Crowe, or Westerns but this was a very good movie. We had heard it was good, but Russel Crowe was keeping me away. Kerry really wanted to see it, but of course he fell asleep a few times, 2 beers will do that to him. I thought I would doze off but I was really into the movie and made it to the end.

So I'm taking the day off work. I have yet to call my 'boss' and tell him. We're just laying around today, taking it easy. I sure hope tomorrow is better, Linus has dog obedience and we missed last week. For some reason, that darn dog just won't heel.

Made a few things while P. was here. Labeled my punch organizer, made a little book of punches for my purse, so I know exactly which ones I have. I thought that was pretty smart of me. It's ugly.

I am itching to start painting and just might. There is one wall by the bathroom that I could start on. It doesn't have any drywall mud on it. But I probably should wait. I'm not so patient.

Kerry said something sweet but very funny on Saturday. After our dinner, we were discussing 'soul mates'. I'm not a believer. Neither is he. I was saying something about how we weren't necessarily destined to be together, but we are and we try our darnedest to make it work and I was thinking of Forest Gump's "we go together like peas and carrots" when Kerry said "Yeah, we just click, like seatbelts." I have to scrapbook that.

Puppy Love

My aunt and uncle have an orchard and 2 outside dogs that are getting older. They want more dogs and finally decided to get this little chunky girl. This is Taya, she's another Golden Retriever and is full of spunk. She was an only puppy and they think that is why she is so chubby. She's 6 weeks old.We took Linus up to meet her and at first he didn't seem to care too much for her but then they both wanted to play and he was so gentle with her. He's kind of a big jerk to everyone else, he jumps on my cousins and tries to bite them, but he wouldn't bite the puppy. And he easily could have, she was trying to pull his whiskers, bite his mocktail, and his ears, but he just let her.
They both got a good work out, running around after each other and were smart enough to play in the mud first and then roll in the snow to get cleaned off.

It's too bad Mr. L is fixed, they could have had some cute pups!

This is Linus at 8 weeks, he's so skinny.


I did a bit of drywalling with Kerry this morning, it's really coming along. We've got the paint, a light brown for the dining room, a bordering blue for the living room. We decided that brown curtains, brown hardwood, brown furniture and brown walls would be too much. Although, Kerry was thinking it would be like living in chocolate, we decided to go with colour. We have the paint, can't change our minds now.
Kerry's stoked, we have a lead on a truck, Yolanda's, and it would be perfect for his mountain biking. So I got to see Baby Scarlett and her sisters again today.
Kerry and I are going for a belated Valentine's-got-the-bonus-and-got-published dinner.

A Day Off

Emily had a day off from school today. The plan was to sleep in longer than normal, but my dad had other ideas and we (me & the dogs) were rudely awakened at 7:30. Emily got more sleep but then gave me the riot act for not waking her up to watch 6teen. We watch it every weekday morning and Sunday night together.
We're doing a little baking, she's got a recipe for Melon Bread, it's a Japanese thing. No melons involved, it just looks like a melon when it's done baking.
Earlier today, we made little trip to the Robinson household to see Yolanda, and the girls. I could eat them all, they are soooo cute!!!
I decorated this bag this morning to take baby Scarlett's little slippers in.

And when you get your new CK magazine, check out Ali's layouts, she's used some Fontwerks rub-ons that my little friend Yolanda designed. How great is that?!! Too bad I won't get my actual subscription copy from CK for another few weeks, but that's another story.

I've had such a busy day doing not much and I might need nap. The sun is shining too bright and it's making my eyes more squintier than normal. I guess I do have about 20 minutes left before the Melon Bread is done it's 1st fermentation. Did I mention that the recipe is translated from either poul Engrish or terribre Japanese? That was bad, I'm offended.

total eclipse of the heart...bwaaahahahaaaa

The lunar eclipse. Nothing special.This guy is so not constructually motivated, but almost every night after work he slaves away in the plastic covered dining room so that I will have an extra 18 inches of space. He's one of the good ones, dusty, but good.

Boho!

After picking dog hair out of the key board, I did a little perusing of my favourite blogs and was not let down...
I have to admit, we don't watch Idol unless absolutely nothing else is on. And I found this on someone else's blog...I love Queen, but I can't say Bohemian Rhapsody from them ever gave me goosebumps like this did.




And if that doesn't work for you...how about this...real or not, it's funny...And if you doubt it's real, check this... www.youtube.com/user/gunecologist (for some reason my links won't work)
Emily and I have a ritual, we check www.icanhascheezburger.com every other day. It's so stupidly funny, it can make even the grumpiest cat hater laugh.


Off to find curtains and to practice hand farting.

Sneaky Snake

My name is Linus. I think you all know of me from the 'tails' my momma tells. I'm not that bad, I'm just curious and since 'curiousity killed the cat', I've got nothing to worry about.
Last night, momma was making boy a smoothie and I decided to use the white noise of the blender to hide the sound of me looking for treats. I am not sure how I got into dad's plastic room, but I did and boy, was I lucky. This little room dad made has all kinds of goodies in it. Momma calls it drywall mud, I call it delicious. Dad calls it gyproc, I say 'snacks galore!'. So there I am with my head all the way in the 'drywall mud' bucket slurping up the goods, humans oblivious because of the noise and that nasty older sister of mine gave me up. Sally was giving me the evil eye through the plastic and momma saw her and then she saw me! I slurped even faster then, and managed to get some on my nose for later.
Today, I can't figure out why momma won't leave me alone in the dining room. It's right there in the name, DINING room.

Momma says I have to get my big, hairy paws off the keyboard, something about hair everywhere.
Bye Bye...and don't forget to try the mud, it's fat-free and ooh soo good.

What you can do with opposable thumbs.

Because I have opposable thumbs, I was able to start this little heart shaped book a few weeks ago while at Tara's. I finally got around to finishing it today. I don't have access to those super cute Maya Road Heart Binders, but I do have my handy dandy Bind-It-All and the crazy ability to draw hearts. I used SU's Porcelan Prints paper that I didn't love at first but it's grown on me. It's also an upcoming class.
Also, when your husband is looking over your shoulder to watch you use your handy dandy BIA as you close the coils, don't take this as a time to show off your strength. Even though we joke up my 'upper body strength of a kitten', I closed that coil baby will all my might and wrecked it beyond repair. Now Kerry doesn't see why the BIA is so great.
And because he doesn't have opposable thumbs, I had to make the card for Linus to give to Tara. He likes to jump on her and give her love bites. He's really an all around jerk when she's around. So, using the new SU Carousel Notes and Chocolate Chip envelopes they come with, 'we' made this 'card'. I wasn't overly impressed that the Carousel 'cards' are actually just super-sized scalloped circles and not actually folded cards, but I'm over it now, but only because the envelopes are so nice.

Kerry's mudding and sanding up a storm in the dining room. I swear my house is shrinking a little bit more every day, it's spreading to the deck now.
I think we have decided on boring old brown for the living room and a darker shade, like mundane brown for the hallway and dining room. That way we can spice it up with accessories. And it will look nice with our chocolate brown and dog hair couch.
My dad has decided to start drawing, so Emily convinced him that he needs Copic markers. And after a day or two, he is convinced he doesn't have a great assortment of colours, no real red, just a vermillion red, and he would like me to order some on-line for him because they are outrageously expensive in town and maybe he'd like a case like Emily's. My SU business makes me feel like a rubber pusher sometimes and now I'm to buy contraband stuff on-line for my dad. Oh, brother.

Another Negative Post...kind of...

I'll keep it short...point form to be exact...
- went to Disneyland in Oct. Yay!
- noticed large shuttle charge. Boo!
- called Xpress Shuttle, they said no problem. Yay!
- waited. Boo!
- waited some more. Boo!
- no one would take my calls, called MC, said they'd handle it. Yay!
- end of Nov. got monies back. Yay!
- today doing banking. Yay! Or Boo! Depends on $.
- end of Jan. got charged again. Boo!
- What the {insert swear word here}??? Boo!
- Called MC. They said call Xpress, I said NO. Get my money back. Yay for me! Boo for him!
- Cancelled MC! Yay!

Always, always check your statements.
Never, ever use Xpress Shuttle.

I can't believe this company! How come they can keep charging us? This makes me very angry.

And it helps a little bit that Scrapbooks Etc. got my Bird Family Tree in one piece. It is slated to be in the July issue.

I, all by myself, walked Linus today. Usually Kerry and I do it at night, in the dark so the neighbours can't see us torturing him. But I've had good intentions to get out with him for about 10 months and today I finally did and would you believe it was okay. He still pulled but he did heal for about 2 seconds and he looked at me 2 times. I thought if I took my ipod and listened to some Dido, I might be relaxed and maybe, just maybe Linus could tell and he would walk so very well. I think what really happened was that I couldn't hear myself over the music and so I was probably yeling 'Heel' so very loud every 3 seconds and everyone within 2 blocks could probably hear me.

Sorry, my spell check doesn't work.

Sunny Day

Just a lazy Sunday at our house today.
My Dad wanted some help shopping at Opus so we took him downtown and he spent all his money on Copic markers, a sketch book, pencils, liner pens and erasers. I think Emily was pretty excited, this increases her selection also. I told her she should move in with the grandparents so that she will have a larger selection of colours of Copics to choose from.
We went out for good old A&W for lunch, had the grilled chicken burger, it was good.
Then came home and had a nap. I had 2 yesterday and really hope I'm not coming down with something.
Afterwards, it was so bright and sunny, when most people would be taking their critters for a walk, I opted to take their pictures. It's amazing what they will do for a treat.

Sometimes, Linus just doesn't get it. You can make out Sally's tail in the background.

Today, I didn't have any problem with my camera. And I did lots of zooming in and out. But I will still take it in while it's under warranty.