Month: February 2004

Sunday Brunch – Photographic

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This week’s Sunday Brunch is Say Cheese!

1. What type(s) of camera do you have? I have a 35mm Minolta which I don’t use anymore, and two digital cameras (a Nikon Coolpix 5700 and a 2100) that I use weekly.

2. Do you store your pictures in a box, photo album or on your computer? All three! I have old photos boxed by subject, but I also have three photo albums. The first one has photos of Chicago, my brother when he was a baby, and family members. The second one is more like a scrapbook from our trip to Arizona and California. I bought heavy black scrapbooking paper and some desert and sealife stencils and created a little book of our journey using bright gel ink pens. It took awhile to put together but I’m really proud of how it came out. The third photo album is all about Joe. I’ve got photos of him dating back to high school thanks to his ex giving him back all the photos she had of him. Due to that, I also have photos of him with his kids when they were younger. And of course I’ve taken lots of photos of him since we’ve been together because he is the most handsome man I know. I also have gigs worth of digital photos I’ve taken over the past three years on my computer and backed up on cd.

3. What is your favorite thing to take pictures of? Other than Joe? Mostly animals or pretty scenery. I’m a nature photographer for sure. The only people I like photographing are Joe and his kids.

4. What is the biggest size photo you have hanging in your home? At the moment I only have some 5×7 photos up, but I’m working on that.

5. Do you like having your picture taken? Not really … but I don’t mind as much if it’s a photo of Joe and me together.

A nice long day

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It feels like it should be 6 pm already … not that I’m complaining. We were up at 7 am today, which is a bit early for a Sunday when we don’t have the kids. But we had things to do … and it has made the day seem longer so it’s nice.

First we went to Target for a few things, then to the grocery store to load up on the normal weekly staples. After dropping the stuff at home and having breakfast, we headed over to Public Storage to store our empty appliance boxes. They pushed hard for us to buy the insurance, but nothing in there is of enough value to warrant that, so we declined. We were worried about the 5×5 space being too small, but after unloading the van of boxes, we only filled it up about 1/3, so that’s cool.

We stopped at Kohl’s so I could return two rings I bought yesterday. I really liked them, but they were too big. They didn’t feel too big when I tried them on, but they were attached to a backing which makes it a bit difficult to gauge the true fit. They didn’t have any rings in my actual size (7), so I got two pairs of earrings instead.

Then we went to Walmart to get some Rubbermaid storage totes. We dropped those off at home and headed over to the nature center for a bit to say hello to the owls and falcons, then headed back home again.

I was excited to pack some stuff into the new storage totes and while I did some reorganizing of the closets, the kids toys, and the stuff that’s gotta go into storage, Joe started making a huge pot of homemade chicken soup. He also has homemade banana bread in the oven. My man is a good cook!

I also cleaned off the patio as there was a bunch of plaster and loose nails around from when the guys put in the new windows. I’m sure our lovely upstairs neighbors also just sweeped their garbage over the edge onto our area too. We get so much junk from that and the wind vortex that sends empty cans, takeout containers and various other junk onto our patio. So that’s all clean now and I filled up two bird feeders because I miss our little feathered friends.

So now we’re just relaxing. I doubt we’ll do much else today. It’s gorgeous out so we have the windows open and there’s a nice breeze coming in. I’m thinking we should have some lunch and settle down with a good book.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

(Dis)Organized

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Last night after work we stopped at Blockbuster so I could rent the first season of Sex and The City. I watched the first two episodes and realized – I’ve seen them! I only hope one of the episodes on the dvd is one I have not yet seen, or that was a waste of money. I really didn’t think I had seen all the episodes, though, but now I’m confused as to which season I didn’t see.

We also went to the library to get some new books. I’ve been doing a lot of fiction reading the past year or so which surprises even me as I had stopped reading fiction altogether a few years ago. I guess I’ve reclaimed the enjoyment I get out of reading a good story.

Before heading home we also grabbed some Chinese food from the best place ever – Peking Express. I’m glad we thought of it as they aren’t open on the weekends. =(

Then we did laundry while we watched tv and read blogs.

Our apartment looks like a disaster area at the moment. See, the past few weeks they’ve been installing new doors and windows throughout the apartment complex. In fact, they put in a new living room window and sliding patio door in our apartment a couple of days ago and they are coming back next week to install a new bedroom window.

Well yesterday we got a note that said anyone with a storage area that had a window in it had to have the aforementioned area empty by March 1st. Thanks for the two days notice! Good thing we weren’t away for the weekend or had the kids.

So after browsing the local mall today for a couple of hours, lunch at Long John Silvers (ahhhh … those chicken planks are to die for … they totally remind me of my grandparents because they used to take me there all the time), and a trip to Walmart, we came home and emptied our storage area. Yea, of all four available units, we got stuck with the one that has a window. So of course all that stuff is in our dining room at the moment. Thank god our dining room table is really just a card table and chairs, which were actually still folded up since we had moved them for when they replaced our sliding patio door.

I had wanted to go through our storage stuff at some point this year anyway, so Spring cleaning just happened a bit earlier than I had originally planned. The good news is that we’ll have enough room for our bikes this year because we reserved a small public storage unit where we’ll be storing a bunch of empty boxes and Christmas decorations tomorrow when they open. We also put aside a bunch of stuff we’re going to sell at a garage sale we’re organizing for the summer, including some stuffed toys of mine.

I guess I could take this opportunity to mention that if you might be interested in any of the following items, email me and we can work something out. I’m looking to get rid of an old Brother word processor, a HP color scanner, some cheap computer speakers, a Snoopy snowcone maker (don’t ask me what I was thinking getting that in the first place), and a bunch of stuffed animals, including two select Beanie Babies in mint condition with tags still attached.

I am so tired at the moment. Tomorrow is going to be another hectic day as we’ve got grocery shopping, a trip to Target, another trip to Walmart for some plastic storage totes (I’m so excited to be able to organize our stuff even more … it’s a disease I have), and the public storage thing to take care of. Plus we plan on stopping by the nature center since it’s supposed to be a nice day. But I’m not complaining because I love being out on the weekends. Some people look forward all week to spending the entire weekend on the couch in their PJs (ahem, Joe) but I’m not one of those people.

Take Me Out To The (Pricey) Ballgame

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Last year, well into the baseball season, I got it in my head that I’d like to see a Cubs vs Sox game at Wrigley Field because I haven’t been to a Cubs game in so long and it would be cool to see them play the Sox. Of course, the games were all sold out by then. So I made a note to buy tickets this year right away. So we spent all day online trying to get tickets. Screw that virtual waiting room – it blows. I watched as my tickets went bye-bye. I mean, it gave me a chance to choose tickets and when I did, it kept saying “Due to the high volume of transactions, your request has timed out. Try again” or something to that nature. I tried many times, and kept getting the error. Then it kicked me out and back into the waiting room. Grrrr!

So all the Cubs vs Sox games are sold out and I have nothing to show for it. Oh wait, not nothing – I did finally get tickets twenty minutes ago, for a game I wasn’t all excited about (they are playing Colorado) … but all the games I wanted to see were either sold out, or are when we’re probably going to be in Maine, so I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on since I didn’t expect it to be this hard to get tickets to begin with. I had to rule out all games in July or August which made it more difficult, but necessary, since that’s when The Cure is due to be touring the U.S. and I can’t miss them!

So anyway … the Cubs are just as bad as Ticketbastard – our $40 (for two) tickets ended up costing $52.75 due to “convenience” charges and a $2.75 fee to mail us the tickets (Will Call cost $2.75 as well). This is why I rarely buy tickets to any event – it’s highway robbery. And someone explain to me again why these extra fees are labeled convenience charges to begin with? More like inconvenience charges.

Thank god it’s the weekend. We’ve got fun things planned and the weather is supposed to be nice. So TGIF!

Maine

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We were discussing where we’d like to vacation this year, and Joe came up with Maine. It never would have crossed my mind, but the more I learn about the state, the more inviting it seems. We’ve seen the Pacific Ocean, so it would be nice to visit the Atlantic. Plus, the lighthouses are picturesque, and there’s the opportunity to see whales, dolphins, puffins and seals in their natural environment. That’s just awesome. I think we’re going to nix our original plans to visit Colorado this year and do Maine instead. Now if we could just decide on what region to visit. If you’ve been to Maine, your suggestions would be helpful. We definitely want to stay on the coast, but we’re not sure which one would offer a good mix of lighthouses and wildlife.

Maybe we’ll even visit Stephen King’s favorite town, Bangor, while we’re at it. ;)