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.

Photo Day

I got out the tripod and spent some time taking pictures out in the yard today. I needed a shot for a "Detail" theme for my yahoo group. I was taking pictures of all the trees in the yard. Probably would look better with a macro lens.


Alana picked up Cassie who needed to do some shopping before her trip to Washington D.C. tomorrow. She's attending some sort of political conference for Libertarians. On our way out to dinner we noticed there were swans in the pond. That is pretty unusual. I had to run home and get my camera.

Recovery Mode

Alana went back to school today but is still not feeling great. She had make-up work and went to clean cat cages with Mark. We then all watched Star Trek while eating our Subway. Alana and I were having some deep discussions about the movie.

Valentine's Day

Date in History: Red Wings are the first NHL team to win 21 home games in a row. Go Wings!

That was the most exciting part of the day today. Besides that: Alana stayed home sick, Kevin has a cavity, Mark and I worked out at the Summit, and for Valentine's day Mark says I have him. That's okay, I will just go lens shopping for my own gift.

Speaking of lenses, I put my 85mm prime on my camera for the first time in a while. It takes nice portrait shots and can handle low light pretty well. I liked this shot of Ollie.


I took a picture when we were leaving the Summit. The high ISO left it pretty noisy, even after I cleaned it up. But I like how you can see the details inside the pool area.

Say Cheese

They took x-rays at the dentist today. When the technician left the room, I jumped up and started snapping.

I also learned that Kevin was asked to got to the Sadie Hawkins dance on Saturday ten days ago. The boy can keep a secret.

Another Beautiful Day

I spent too much time inside for such a beautiful day. We worked out at the Summit (our community center) for the first time and I went to my Classics book discussion of Lolita.

I did manage to get outside right before dinner and get a picture of the setting sun's colors reflected off our neighbor's house. It was at the start of what they call Blue Hour. Blue hour is the relatively short time frame right after the sun goes below the horizon and the sunset ends, during which the sky turns a deep blue.

Gorgeous Day

We woke up to this beautiful, bright, snowy scene this morning. We went for breakfast at a cute little Omelette and Waffle cafe in downtown Plymouth. This time of year it is always a blessing to see the sun shining.

Normal Friday

I worked at HSHV today. An adopter brought her Pit Bull puppy back for a visit. She was adorable and very friendly. I feel for all the Pit Bulls in our shelter. It is hard to find adopters for them, especially the older ones.

Gorgeous Day

It was beautiful and warm today. I went out with the dogs for a while why they played in the yard. Lucy was her usual self, biting Ollie all over.

Ollie just wanted to play tug as usual.

Room Accomplished

I was up until 2am making lists of rooms for Cassie. In the end she didn't need it. A few rooms disappeared before her 10:15am time slot, but she got her second choice of rooms in the dorm she wanted to live in. I think she is very relieved.

I was pretty exhausted and didn't accomplish much today. I did pull out the camera and snapped a few photos of the dogs playing on my new rug. Ollie really blends in.

Guest Photographer

Laura and I worked on our computers today figuring out good rooming options for Cassie. She has to sign up tomorrow and has a full day with seven hours of class and a few extra things to do. She got home from class before 11pm and we then went over things.

With all that I somehow forgot to pull out my camera today. Luckily Mark covered it for me in Puerto Rico. He is down there for a few days this week for a hush-hush project. This is as close as he got to the beach. Most of his photos were of mud holes.

BP - Go Home

I spent much of today finishing up on BP's video to help him get adopted. He's been here about 7 weeks now and really needs to find a forever home. His cold has come back with a vengance and he is snotting up the office. Everyone is avoiding him and the poor guy is getting lonely.

He is definitely more comfortable in his space. He loves to role around on his back asking for love. I have a really hard time getting good photos of him with his dark color.

Mud Bath

Good news today. The orthopedic doctor says Kevin's wrist is not broken and he can take off the splint. That means he is back to driving again.

I took the dogs to the dog park for the first time today. What a mess. We were sinking in mud up to our ankles. Kevin had to clean his car while I cleaned the dogs, my shoes, and myself.

But Ollie really enjoyed it. He was as possessed as he looks in this photo.

Lazy Superbowl Day

Watching the Giants win the Superbowl as I write. Patriots almost caught a hail mary to win it.

I am not huge into football, so my highlight of the day was putting together the tripod Mark gave me for my birthday. I took a whole bunch of shots of the fireplace. Here is my favorite.

Teenagers

Alana had Shannon over. Morgan stopped by so that she and Alana could send in their housing requests for Michigan State. Then Paul showed up to hand out with Kevin. Nothing serious happened after that.


Kevin went to a sweet sixteen party tonight. Mark and I went to the movies while he was at the party.

It's my birthday

Went out with the Bergmann's and Fite's to El Nibble Nook. The Fite's gave me a fancy Red Solo cup. I will have to take a picture of it. Mark took a pictures of the gals' side of the table.

Say Cheese

Off to get passport pictures for the kids today. Since they are over sixteen, no husband is required to get their passports. I guess they feel if you steal your teenager and leave the country, you are only doing your spouse a favor.

This is what we returned home to find. Ollie and Lucy had destroyed Lucy's dog bed. It reminded me of the aftermath of a teen party in the movies.

Bookworms Photoless

I had it in my mind that I would take a photo of the Bookworms tonight, but then I totally forgot. We discussed the Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly and learned a little bit about people's experience with jury duty. It was a fun night.

Not having a picture, I had to come up with something in the house. I decided on the kitchen lights. I'm really happy they were just fixed. We were without them for a few months. Not real exciting, but at least I pulled out the camera.