Studio Party

They found my missing foster notebook at the Humane Society today. I was so shocked. I've been missing it for over a year. I was really overcome, since it was like finding all my lost kittens. I bought into the lottery pool, I'll let you know if I'm a millionaire.

After work, Mark and I headed to a first year anniversary Photo Studio party. They had some stations set up for photographing models and a motorcycle. And they had dancers as well. It was a day for shoes for me. Here are my pictures.

Cats, Food, Exercise, and Photos

The evening was a blur. We cleaned the cat cages, went to Mongolian Bar-b-que, and returned home. Mark and I went to the Summit to work out the last 30 minutes before the closed. And then I realized I hadn't taken any photos. So at 10:30pm I went down in the basement to take some photos of the pinball machine. I few came out okay. Here is Kenny, you have to keep hitting him to kill him, poor Kenny.

Prom Dress Shopping

Alana and Morgan tried on dresses today. The must have good taste; they were finding the most expensive dresses in the shop. Here are the favorites.

It was so nice, I got Kevin to help with walking the dogs. Mark was off picking his Mom up from the airport. She's been in Arizona since before Christmas. The entrance to the sub looks beautiful with the pear trees in bloom. You can see the glass shade missing from the lamp post. It crashed during one of the storms this month.

Red Wings

Mark returned home from Utah today. The company Red Wings tickets were not being used so we went to the game. It was too late to find anyone to go with us but we still had a fabulous time. The Wings demoralized the Blue Jackets, 7-2. It was 4-0 at the end of the first period.

Since only point-n-shoots are allowed, no real action shots. Here is the the players during the National anthem.

I love this photo even though it's blurry. It really shows the atmosphere when the Wings scored 1:06 minutes into the game. And of course, the goal light is flashing.

Gorgeous Weather

It feels more like summer than the start of Spring. It was about 74 degrees today. The flowers and trees are all in bloom. I took a few shots with my macro filter today of the Bradford Pear tree.

A Day of Shelter Visits

Today was the grand opening of the Shelter to Home Adoption Center. I went out to see with Sally and Brian Baker. Then later in the evening I attended the annual Foster Appreciation party at Huron Valley. And finally, I ended the day by seeing the Hunger Games with Alana and Kevin. It was a great movie, but you really did miss out on the Katniss's perspective, since so much of the book described what she was thinking and feeling.

Here is the beautiful Victorian home that is Shelter to Home's new building:

Just another Friday

I worked at Huron Valley again today. Nothing else very exciting. Just trying to get things back in shape after my trip.

The shelter has many, many empty adult cat cages. That is pretty unusually, but always a blessing. There are still many to chose from including this super friendly little boy named Gould, who wanted to say hi to anyone and everyone.

Back Home Again

I took the Amtrak back to Ann Arbor today. I road in Business class and it was even more comfortable than first class on a plane. For $13 extra it was definitely worth it. Didn't take any photos today besides from on the train while going 100mph.

Chicago - Day Walk

We started a scavenger hunt/walking tour on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It sort of deteriorated into just a normal shopping trip. They have some nice shops along Michigan Avenue, but nothing as original and unique as Newbury street in Boston. We all picked up an item or two and Laura took a bunch of photos. I snapped off only 4 shots all day. Luckily, one was a keeper. This is the atrium area of the 4-story Crate and Barrel. I would love to go back and get a bunch more from different angles. Maybe next year.

Chicago - Night Walk

I travelled by train to Chicago today. Because the freight company is angling for money from Amtrak for rail maintenance, they've instituted 30mph speed restrictions on 40 miles of the trip. This made my trip over an hour longer than it should have been. It was still better than driving. I tried to take some photos on the trip but nothing worked.

I met Laura, Sarah, and Allie at the Trump Tower. It's pretty amazing. We went out for dinner and then walked over to Navy Pier, which was closed for the night. We had a lot of fun and laughs taking photos. Next time, I need to take a picture of the hexaboobs.

Strange Phobias

Besides getting ready for my trip, we mostly worked on replacing the caulk in our shower today. Such a fun job.

My only photo op occurred when Alana freaked out over her Easy Mac. She cannot stand when she takes it out of the microwave and it is all standing up. I still haven't figured out why. Add it to her phobia of cotton balls and the sound they make when you rip them apart.

Hairless Rat

I worked at the Humane Society today. I feel like I've missed so much lately, it felt good to be there. I saw an unusual sight while I was there. They had three rats and one of them was furless. Sadly, their owner has passed away and they need a new home.

Tornados in Michigan

We had at least three tornados in Southeast Michigan today. One touched down in Dexter, MI west of us. There were no serious injuries. I was in the kitchen cooking and keeping a careful watch over my shoulder at the sky. As the storm passed the sky was so pretty. This is straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC), ie. no photoshop adjustments.

Nothing Special

Just a regular day here. Picked up Mark from the airport and helped Alana clean the cat cages at PetSmart. Took another sunset picture. It seems to be my theme lately.

Back to the Grind

Not an exciting day here, just catching up after the trip. I did make it to Target to buy a new gate today to keep Lucifer, I mean Lucy, out of trouble when we leave the house. I know Ollie looks devilish in the shot, but it's that innocent looking Beagle on the right who's chewed over $1000 of shoes.

Back in Gloomy Michigan

Touched down to a gloomy Michigan, all grey skies. It did clear up a bit later, only to have a tornado watch from 7pm to 3am. I ran outside to get some shots before the storm rolled in. Luckily we had no tornados, but it did not make for restful sleep. Mark is lucky to be in the Keys a few more days.

Last Day on Islamorada

It was my last day and it was to windy to go snorkeling, so we just had a nice, relaxing day. I took some pictures of flowers with my walkabout lens, no filters of anything. My temporary crown popped of when I was getting ready to leave, so we had an emergency stop to CVS.

Best Day on the Island

Mark and I went sea kayaking today. We saw six small black-tipped reef sharks in the really shallow waters near the mangroves. A large crab was sitting outside of its hole in the grasses, but disappeared when we got too close.

It was fun trying to navigate through the tight spaces in the mangrove. We got our paddles caught up a few times, but managed not to tip over.

We had dinner with friends at Marker 88 on the water and were treated withed this gorgeous sunset.

Hiking in the Keys

We went to Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park today. They have a little museum depicting the Overseas Railroad which was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935. It also tells the history of the three coral quarries on the island. They are located side-by-side in the park and are not as big as quarries we have back home. They were only about 10-12 feet deep.

We then hiked through the quarries and the park and saw a few of these along the way. It is a banana spider and not dangerous. But I'm still staying away. I get the creeps just looking at it.

Key Islamorada

Flew to Miami today and am spending a few days on the island. Even though it's been a mild winter, we've still had long stretches of grey, so I am loving the sunshine and blue skies.

So mad that I missed this guy. He was on the pier and I literally almost walked into him. I could have gotten a great close up. But we then had a nice staring contest. Needless to say, he won.

Got a call from Cassie this evening. She is on crutches. She cannot walk on her foot. UHS said it's inflamed due to flat feet, but Cassie didn't sound very confident in their diagnoses. But seriously, can the girl have any other medical issues this year.

Macro - 1st attempt

I was supposed to be packing, but instead I pulled out my reverse lens adapter and macro filter. Boy, what a challenge. I gave up on the adapter, nothing was working, but got a few shots with the 10x filter.

I merged to others to get the whole capitol. It's amazing the little flecks that are in the bills when you look up close.

Dentist

My scary Frankenstein picture. Don't you just love the puffy upper lip and no makeup.

My front tooth is fused to the bone and cannot be moved straight. So I am having the dentist cosmetically fix it. This is what they do to your tooth to put a crown on it.

The dentist's helper did not that it was a good idea to take a picture, but I assured her I wasn't going to look at it until they put me back together. Thank goodness I didn't.

New Phones

I bought new phones for Kevin and I off ebay; an Htc Amaze for him and a Samsung Galaxy S for me. I only took two pictures all day, both with the phone. For some reason the file size was really small; just more to add to my camera learning list.

Soccer Match

We started out the day with Kevin's soccer match. They lost by one point again. They haven't won a game yet, but it's always pretty close. It was very hard to take pictures in the warehouse, the lighting is atrocious, the field is large, and the subjects are moving.

The rest of the day was filled up with taking Cassie back to school (it was nice to have her home for the week), separate stops at the gym, the library, and the grocery store, and catching up on my photography posting. All in all, just another Sunday.

D.C. Auction

We went to the Divine Child auction with the Bergmann's tonight. They have a great strolling dinner. I picked up a few items, including the Student Parking Spot for Kevin next year. We stayed most of the way through the live auction, but it was so loud in the gymnasium, we were all done after that. They had a cute Golden Doodle up for auction that was ten times more exhausted then we were. I took a picture on my phone, but it was pretty poor.


I was reading my camera book in bed and snapped this shot of Lucy. It just haven't been a great week for photos, but there is hope for next week.

Rio

I worked a double shift at the Humane Society today. It was a puppy day. But the 19 puppies from Tennessee were not available because the main surgery vet has a broken pelvis, so the surgeries were a little delayed in being completed.

Luckily, this cute Germain Shorthaired Pointer was all set to go. Three people came in looking for him today. He went home with a really nice gentleman who had a similar dog that passed last year. It was almost impossible to take his picture, he was a constant blur of motion.

Ewww

Cassie came down the stairs this afternoon just sobbing. She has been in a lot of pain since Tuesday when they removed her mucocele. She was very upset because she thinks she has another one. I think she might be right. Hopefully this one will heal itself and she will not have to have the surgery a third time. I am sure from the picture you can understand why she wants to avoid that. The small shine to the bottom left of the big wound is the light reflecting off the new mucocele.

Leap Day

I think I would rather just leap over this leap day. Not motivated to do much and the weather was dreary all day. Cassie slept all day and is in a lot of pain with her lip. I didn't even pull out the camera until 9:30pm. I tried light painting with the ceiling lights in the hall. It was fun, but no spectacular shots.

My New Volt

It was a day and night of appointments. I went to the root canal specialist, the bank, book club, and Mark's office to receive me new Chevy Volt. Unfortunately, they had to drive it across town, so Kevin and I rain out of battery before we arrived home, so we were running on gas. I can't wait to get it charged up and take it for a spin.

Cassie went back to the ENT to have her mucocele removed again. He really dug a huge chunk of flesh out of her lip. Ouch!

And the Oscar Goes to.....

The Shore. This is the one film nobody voted for, so I guess we get to beat up the house to get our money back. Or he could give it back peacefully. We shall see.

It was such a beautiful day we took the dogs to Maybury State Park for a hike. With all the leash pulling, I only managed to take two pics. This is the better of the two:

Return Trip Home

Alana and I traveled SDF->DTW->MDW->DTW to get home today. It was a long day. Unfortunately I didn't get home in time to go with Mark to Kalamazoo. His company won the American Council of Engineering Companies Michigan Firm of the Year Award. Quite a mouthful, but very cool.

I took another picture of the psychedelic tunnel today - this time in focus.

Kentucky Horse Park

Us girls (Mimi, Laura, Alana, and I) visited the Kentucky Horse Park after Mimi's appointment in Lexington today. It was super windy and chilly, but we still had a really nice time. We learned about the champion stallions and geldings on the farm and were able to see many different breeds of horses; my favorite was the American Painted. The horses had their winter coats and felt as soft as bunny rabbits.

It was a whole lot of so-so pictures today. This is a sculpture traveling with "The Horse" exhibit at the museum. It is a bronze cast of driftwood by Deborah Butterfield.

We finished the day by dining at the Claudia Sanders restaurant with Dad and Noel.

Henry's Ark

We visited Henry's Ark today. This is a wildlife sanctuary and petting zoo not far from the house in Kentucky. We were able to pet and feed deer, goats, swans, chicken, bunnies, llamas, emus, and an ostrich. We could see the water buffalo and zebra but they were pretty far away.

I managed to get a few good shots. I really liked this shot of the goat's eye.

They had a friendly farm cat that kept walking along the fence.

Blackacre Conservancy

Rough night; woke up in the middle of it with 101 degree fever. But we still managed to get out a little while this afternoon. Laura took Alana and I to Blackacre Conservancy. It's a small farm with some wooded trails. We took photos of the animals and of Alana on our hike. We must remember next time to take some food for the animals.

Here is Alana during our impromptu photo shoot.

Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down

That was life for Alana and me today. Three plane flights to get to Kentucky. I survived even though I woke up with a terrible cold this morning.

Here is my only photo. It is of the psychedelic tunnel connecting terminals at Detroit Metro Airport.

MSU Gals

I took Morgan and Alana to Michigan State today to walk around campus and see some of the dorms. I think we gained 5 pounds at lunch in Brody. It was a beautiful day, even though a little cold.

Last day of NDART

I finished my NDART training. I would still have to take one more class in order to go help at a disaster. They are going to set up a class for us. One woman was really freaked out over the 20 question test they gave us. I don't think that necessarily a good sign.

No picture today. I think I just stared at the wall after I got home.

Sadie Hawkins

It was day two (9am-5pm) of NDART class. And on my way home there was 5 fire trucks, a few ambulances, and some police cars at the entrance to the sub next door. Unbelievable, the house that burnt down 4 years ago has burned again. I swear that house is jinxed.

I made it home just in time to get pictures of Kevin and his date and their friends before they left for the Sadie Hawkins dance. I didn't get the best shots, but here are a few:

And the goofy shot:

And the Oscar Goes to ...

It was a full day from beginning to end. I went to my first day of National Disaster Animal Response Team Training (NDART).

After that Mark and I went out with friends, Chuck and Jano, to a screening of the Oscar nominated short films (10 animated/10 regular). We placed a $10 wager on who will win the academy award for the non-animated short (we all agreed on the animated film so that was no fun). Here is our voting, may the best film expert win.

Jano - Raju
Chuck - Tuba Atlantic
Mark - Pentecost
Judy - Time Freak

I know Mark and I probably won't win since the academy doesn't seem to like comedies, but the comedies were so funny.

We had a great dinner at Roast. The fried brussels sprouts were amazing and I don't even like brussels sprouts. And I did not know until right now that you put a "s" on the end of brussels. I think we got home by 1am.

My night shots on my p/s camera were junk. Luckily I pulled out the camera before class and took this out the dining room window. I still don't know what caused Lucy to be so transfixed.