Month: June 2008

Another weekend gone by

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I'm ready for my close-up

Yesterday we took the kids shopping to get a few things to keep at our place. I was getting a bit tired of Joe’s son wearing these terrible knit shorts that don’t even match the shirts he brings. We bought him shirts but he took most of them home and the ones left at our place were getting too small. He does have some nice shorts at home but never seems to bring them over. I can’t trust that he or his sister will remember everything they need (they’re only kids, after all) each weekend, and since their mother lets them pack their own bags without overseeing what they’re bringing, she’s useless.

Anyway, the boy got a pair of shorts, 3 shirts, boxers, and flip-flops. The girl only got a shirt, a pair of shorts, and flip flops. She wasn’t as interested in getting stuff and I wasn’t going to push it since I don’t have a problem with what she wears. I just felt bad since the boy got more but she didn’t seem to care. She’s not very materialistic. In fact, when she got checks for her graduation she asked us to put the money in her savings account.

Joe took the boy to a school event in the afternoon so I made lunch for the girl and we hung out til the boys got back. We wanted to go to the park but wouldn’t you know it, the second the boys pulled into the garage it started raining so that was out. We ended up playing board games and the Wii instead. My arms were sore this morning which is a true testament to a) how out of shape I am, b) how infrequently I play on the Wii, or c) a & b. I think you know the answer to that.

— – —

It was a beautiful day out today but now it’s cool and rainy out. Other than not being able to fit a bike ride in before the rain came, I’m satisfied with how the day went. We got a little shopping in after dropping off the kids and then headed to St. James Farm Forest Preserve. We’ve been wanting to visit ever since Joe and the girl put in some volunteer time cleaning up the grounds in early May. When we arrived a bit before 10 am we ate the sandwiches I had made and then explored the area.

A foal with his mother We had the place to ourselves for over an hour which was nice but by 11:30 there were more and more people walking around so we decided to check out Danada Equestrian Center where there were not one, but two young foals. One was born a month ago and the other was just born last night. Talk about great timing! I can’t say I’ve ever seen foals before so it was a real treat to watch them walk around. Yes, even the 12 hour old foal was on her legs in the barn. Imagine a 12 hour old baby being able to walk!

I posted videos of the two foals on my YouTube account and I’ll be slowly adding photos to Flickr in the coming week. Check back here for links.

— UPDATE —

St. James Farm Forest Preserve photoset at Flickr

Canon Powershot SD870 & Canon 40D Accessories

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I know I said I’d review my new camera in depth, but I don’t have much more to add to my original observations other than I really love this camera!

On Sunday we decided to visit Cosley Zoo so I could test out the 40D, but idiot that I am, I left the camera turned on the day before with an image stabilized lens attached so the battery had died. Doh! I’ve left the camera on before with the 20D but not with a lens that is constantly moving so it never drained the battery like that.

We didn’t have enough time to charge the battery before going to the zoo so I decided I’d just play around the with the Powershot instead. I have to say, I am really impressed with the photos I got. Obviously they don’t compare to a digital SLR but they are much better than I expected. Check them out for yourself.

I ordered more accessories for the 40D from B&H Photo and we Joe decided that’s it for awhile. I don’t blame him – there have been a lot of photography-related purchases in the last month.

I just can’t help it; I really love getting good shots so I need some decent equipment. And that’s all it really is – anyone who is really into photography can see from the list that these are not the best lenses or filters that money can buy. They’re good enough for my hobby, at least for now, however.

I tried to make Joe feel better about the money spent by saying I cut back on groceries this month but I don’t think that worked.

Panic!

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I don’t know who designed the key for our Ford Escape but I’d love to have a word with them: the buttons are far too sensitive. Today, while I was pulling my car into the garage I must have accidentally hit the Escape’s panic button because it started honking like crazy, scaring the crap out of me. Then later when Joe was backing out of the garage (in my car), the same thing happened.

We’ve also both accidentally popped open the hatchback without knowing it until later and you have to hit the button twice in a row quickly for it to even work! Considering that in the 8 years I’ve owned my Jetta, we have never accidentally set off the panic button, it’s obvious there is a design issue here. I’m removing the key off my keychain because that is just too annoying. I don’t even drive the Escape! (Although I am “allowed”).

In the news

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Cops pay 3 a.m. visit to tell man his door is unlocked – This guy is a total moron. I hope we don’t see a follow-up article saying he is suing the police department for invasion of privacy because I will go over there and personally slap him. As far as I’m concerned he’s lucky child services wasn’t called on his dumb ass. In this day and age I think it’s very stupid to leave your doors unlocked at night. I don’t care where you live. It doesn’t take much effort to keep your home secure and you’re just inviting criminals into your home otherwise. I’ve lost count of how many horror stories I’ve read about people being murdered by someone entering into their unlocked home. Even criminals are lazy, so please, don’t be easy pray, people!

Scuba diver charged in wife’s underwater death – So how greedy does one have to be to murder their own spouse? The sad part is she never added him as sole beneficiary anyway so he murdered her for nothing! Sick fuck. Why do people still think they can get away with murder? With DNA testing and all the technology it’s much harder to get away with it.

Kohl’s dressing room fun

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We ended up at Kohl’s not once, but twice this week.

I was in the dressing room during the first visit when the lady in the stall next to mine body-slammed the wall when she lost her balance. I had to cover my mouth to keep her from hearing me laughing.

A few days later I was once again in the dressing room when the woman in the stall next to me was complaining how all the pants are designed for woman who don’t have hips. “Barbie dolls” is what she called them. It took all my will power not to yell out, “I hear ya!” to her ranting, which was directed to her significant other standing outside the dressing room area. I’ve only been able to find properly fitted pants since I lost enough weight that my hips are more proportioned to my waist, although they are still larger and make finding pants that don’t leave a huge gap in the back challenging.

Oh and we stripped one of the mannequins on our second trip. I wanted to exchange a top for a larger size and the only one that was left in my size was on a model, so we left her shirtless and took off with the top. I was going to redress her with a different size but Joe thought it was funnier to leave her topless. I should have taken a picture.