Friday, February 27, 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Light in Regan's Eyes...


I'd been searching for a piece of black and white Damask fabric thinking it would look cool as a photo backdrop. Nothing wide enough for my taste was available but I did find a narrower cut at Joannes while at the same time falling in love with a piece of brown and blue upholstery fabric that I ended up bringing home as well. Wanting to try it out I roped Regan and one of her friends McKenzi as test subjects while I played around with the lighting in my living room and zoomed in close to their adorable faces. They were patient with me as I snapped away trying to get the f-stop right. Shooting in manual mode forces me to notice things I was bypassing before in auto. Thank Heavens for digital cameras.





Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Get Ready to Laugh...


25 random things about m.c. hammer

And here...we...go.

First - I could not possibly narrow the facts about myself that I would like to share down to 25, so here is 33.

Dos - If it is dark outside or I am home alone, then EVERY time I walk past a door in my house I lock it. and in the case that I am home alone, I always have my dads glock 17 (9mm) with or near me.

C - The condensation at the top of water bottles drives me insane. Usually I just shake the bottle to get rid of it but if there isn't any water in it, I throw the bottle out of my sight. Always.

quatro - My favorite item of clothing/accessories that I own is my camo hat. Hands down.

Fifth - I have a shower radio that I use on a regular basis, but I refuse to sing in the shower.

VI - I cannot write in roman numerals. I had to Google the roman numerals that I used in this note.

Seven - I cannot sleep in silence, nor can I sleep with people talking. (i.e. TVs, radios etc.)

8 - I turn my mirrors around before I go to bed so they don't face me.

Nine - I rearrange my closet at least once every other week.

Number 10 - I strongly believe that I am much more fun to be around when I don't take my focus candy.

Eleven - I have always believed, and still do believe that there are sharks in my pool after dark.

12 - When I was a child and my mother told me to go take a nap, I would repeatedly tell myself that I was taking a nap because I wanted to. Not because she told me to.

XIII - My best friends are my siblings.

#14 - I have never named my stuffed animals. If the animal was a bear, its name was "beary." If it was a duck, its name was "ducky." You get the point.

Fifteen - I have a variety of different voices that people get a kick out of. If you ever need a laugh, ask me to say "prune juice." If you don't laugh when I say that, you have the coldest heart ever.

One.six. - I have had a checkbook since I was 9 years old.

17 - If I am carrying a bag and I don't have a roll of duct tape, carmex, a pen, or a children’s book/toy, I am having an off day.

R - I have naturally CURLY hair. Not just curly...but CURLY.

XIX - I could talk about elementary school for hours.

20 - I am a completely different person than I was two years ago. I have my religion to thank for that.

20 plus 1 - I just might be one of the most outgoing people you will ever meet.

V - I am highly observant when it comes to people. I love learning about others' lives. I find it fascinating. This makes me a great listener.

23 - I am a kid-magnet, so I love to babysit. I am also an old-person magnet. That's why I worked at a retirement home for 9 months. You can learn so much from the children and the aged.

X - I have a fear of dropping things into the toilet, being in water where my feet do not touch the bottom, swimming at night, and not being trusted.

Twenty-five - Half of one of my front teeth is fake. Few people in this world know why.

Z – Being nice to people that dislike me just might be one of my favorite things to do. It throws them off.

AA – I dislike the snow, but I like when it is snowing.

BB – When it is dark outside, I can’t stand it when the blinds are open. I feel like I’m in a fish bowl.

29 – Gina Dickman and I are pretty much the only people in this world who do not have texting.

THIR...tea – I am impressed that you are still reading this.

THIR..tea...one – Many-a-times have I bucked the system just to get a rise. (frosh Spanish class)

three2 - I didn't want to end on an odd number so this fact is pretty much pointless.

Last one – I am a good seed.

WORD.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Interesting Read...

On a tip from a friend -- (actually several friends told me about this one) I checked out this book from the library. The story was a times a bit painful to read because it seemed almost unbelievable the experiences this girl had growing up. The language is coarse in several places -- not the type of book you'd read aloud to a five year old. The resilience of this author in living through this lifestyle made possible by her parents was the amazing part.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Shooting Buddy Date with McKay...


Friday McKay and I went to the shooting range out in West Richland where Tim is a Range Master. McKay shot a .22 pistol which she liked better than the 9mm. After we went shooting, we visited a couple antique stores in search of an oval floral frog which we didn't find and went to Joannes for some muslin to dye for a new photo backdrop. It is always fun hanging out with McKay.

McKay gets asked to Winter Formal


Some unknown person delivered a plastic shoe box sized container filled with salted roasted peanuts to McKay's seminary class last week. The note on the top said, " I'm one nut that really wants to go to Winter Formal with you, but you have to find me first." Hidden inside one of the unshelled nuts was the name of the was the self proclaimed nut. Thinking it make take a while McKay began separating shells from legumes. The lucky nut came up after just a dozen or so tries.


Next came the "got to think of a clever response" part. Ideas ranged from multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to hidden responses in other peanut butter products to finally and quite differently settling on delivering an answer via jello.

First McKay came up with nineteen excuses why she couldn't go to the dance with one reason she could. Printed on card stock and laminated the messages were hidden in the mixture which consisted of twelve packs of strawberry jello and dream whip. The original salty peanut container was transformed into a wiggly jiggly box of strawberry deliciousness.


McKay delivered her answer to third hour seminary placing it on Josh's desk. The top of the box said, "Will I go to Winter Formal?? Only the Jello knows... keep looking until you find the answer you want. While the class looked on Josh donned gloves and dug through the jello, made a huge mess on his desk and took a taste for fun.



McKay took her dress to Jacque's for alteration tonight which we are sure will be another adorable look. Hair, makeup and photos need scheduling which she will take care of this week no doubt.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Bad Lighting Great Playing...


Yesterday Regan's basketball game was against McLoughlin Middle School in Pasco. They have by far the worst lighting for capturing memories of Regan's killings on the court. No amount of white balance adjustment made any difference. Still Regan really gets after it on the court. McKensie came along to watch the game and it turned out a winner bad lights and all.

My hairdresser doesn't even know for sure...

One thing you might know about me is that sometimes I can be impulsive. Like the day a week and a half ago when I woke up, looked in the mirror, and decided I didn't like my gray hair anymore. So I am wise beyond belief but does the world need to be reminded of that by being forced to look at my hair color? (kidding about the wise part)

Anyway -- off to the market I went in search of not only a decent shade but one guaranteed to cover the uncoverable, stubborn, pigment free follicles of silver all over my head. Should I have sought professional help?? Possibly. Would I be quadruple the ticked off if I ultimately didn't like the color? Pretty much.

I opted for Le Petit Salon Self Serve de Walmart -- Eisle 21 next to the Bed Head knock off brand "gotta be...".

Light brown number six with gray retexturing pre-treatment. It goes on yellow proceeds to an orangy rust before arriving at the final destination -- black. The instructions explicitly read "the color on your head is not necessarily the color your hair will be." Now that's a relief.

All said and done light brown is a whopping helping darker than gray and I wasn't sure I liked it. Almost no one noticed the transformation lending heavily to my notion that I might be invisible until one friend gasped -- ohmyfreakingosh I love it. If she likes it that's good enough for me considering that if I take off my glasses everything's blurry anyway.

Clairol One - (eight hundred) - help me... knows the color of my roots... but no one else needs to.