My neighbor's Schnauzers, a photo from winter and the clouds before the storm. The Schnauzer's were formal portraits - think I did pretty decent on those. Have had the winter tree photo for a while, but never really liked it in color - love it changed to an antiqued look. The clouds were just too glorious to pass up! Looks like God is shining down on us!

And yet more blossoms

More Spring Blossoms

The tulips are from our backyard and the tree blossoms are from a home next to Zachary's school. I do believe this is a Cherry Tree in full bloom. Will be posting more when I get them edited. Lots of pretty flowers around town - thank you, Lord! I'm so glad to see something other than snow and dead tree brances!!!

Dog Day Afternoon

Took these photos yesterday afternoon of my backyard neighbor's dachsund (Brutus) and another neighbor's schnauzers (Chase and Lacey). They were a couple of sweet dogs that were having a "playdate" with Brutus. Chase and Lacey were having a good time - Brutus was hiding in the house wondering why he'd been invaded by dogs that were twice his size! Poor guy! They were all pretty darn cute and behaved themselves better than most childern. It was a lot of fun and I think I got some photos that are keepers! Hopefully their owners will think so!

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished editing this photo. It's taken me 4 trips and probably over 100 shots to get this one that I liked relatively well. This is a tough bridge.

"Who has turned on the washing machine?". That was my first thought at 4:37am this morning when I woke up to a weird noise? I have a front-loading washing machine and if you don't knock the spin cycle down to low, it feels as if the space shuttle is going to launch right from the middle of the house. Well, after a minute I realized my bed was shaking - and thought one of the kids was trying to crawl in with me. I was opening my mouth to gripe when I realized there wasn't any child around. So I looked on the floor next to the bed thinking they were shaking it from a dream (maybe?) with their foot. Nope. Then "AAAAHHHHHHH! EARTHQUAKE!!! came to mind as it dawned on me the bed was shaking pretty darn good, the windows were creaking, the blind cords and wands were swaying and there was a really weird whirring noise. Oh yeah, that noise is flippin' weird and creepy!! Once the shaking quit and noise stopped, it was even creepier as there was dead silence. You could've heard a pin drop from anywhere in the city. Totally creepy! Mike and the kids slept through it and I decided since the house didn't seem to be creaking anymore to go back to sleep and wait until morning to see what the heck happened. Turned on GMA at 7am and this was the lead story - must've been a slow news day. The quake registered at 5.2 magnitude, which was a downgrade from the original 5.4 they gave it to begin with. Looked around the house and it shifted a few things around like jewelry chests, photos, china and crystal - but no cracks in the walls or anything actually falling and breaking. Checked the gas lines, water heater, etc. - all looks good. Yippee!

Mountains

I named this photo "The Mountain". Took it the other day when it felt like everything lately was a giant obstacle. For some people this would be no big deal and just look like a set of steps to climb - for me, it's a major hurdle as there are no hand rails or anything else to grab onto to prevent a free-fall. I was having a bit of a low, poor-me day - but things are looking up and my new computer is lightning fast - so all is well. I also thought of naming this photo "The Trees" after Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" cause it has that same creepy, spooky look about it in black/white. I almost expect to see the shadows of the tree branches start moving to try and grab at you. I know - I have a vivid imagination........or I've watched one too many scary movies!

SPRING!!!!

Some flowers and flowering trees from around town today. It is sooooo wonderful to finally see the trees, plants and grass showing signs of life again!!! Of course, as a driver you don't get to see too much of it as you are constantly on the lookout for the dreaded potholes! They are so numerous and deep that you can easily bend or break your car's axle - heck some are so big you could lose a VW or Hyundai in one! Will be shooting lots of flowers in the coming weeks!

More Florida Vacation Photos

Yea!!

Finally, a break in the computer world for me! The Geek Squad was able to recover my 400+ Florida vacation photos! So here they come as I get them edited. I thought the first one was appropriate given my mood of late regarding computers! Hope you enjoy them.

Calamity after Calamity - Part Deux

So we get back from vacation, only for me to be hit with a horrible case of montezuma's revenge. Great - well, at least it wasn't on the 1,100 mile drive home! We got home Friday evening around 4pm and I was sick all day Saturday - couldn't even drink anything. So, Saturday I'm sitting at my computer editing my 400+ vacation photos and decide it's bed time. Turn off the computer and go to bed. Nothing wrong with the computer when it shut down - worked great. Should've been my first clue with that Toshiba P.O.S..

Sunday morning I'm feeling better and decide to play some more with my photos while doing the mountain of laundry we brought home with us. Go to turn on the computer .................and it won't do jack. I do believe the first words out of my mouth started with "Son of ........."!!! All my vacation photos - sucked up into hard drive hell. After suppressing the urge to take a sledgehammer immediately to the piece of crap, I bundle it up to take to Best Buy first thing Monday morning - yes Best Buy is open on Sunday, but I'm not up to that much movement or driving just yet. Then if that doesn't stink enough for one day, Mike starts having some pretty bad pain - in spite of the pain killers he on. Great - so we're both whiney!

So Monday I take the POS to Best Buy and they run a quick diagnostic - the hard drive crashed. For $99 they will attempt to recover all my lost data. Good - go for it! Bad news - it's $300 to fix the computer. No friggin' way! Let the computer shopping begin!! I start by talking to my neighbor, a computer guru, and he gives me some excellent info on what I need for memory space, hard drive space, etc.. Then I hit the stores. Then, after having my head filled with more computer info I didn't understand and that made my eyes spin, I go back to my neighbor for clarification. Then I go out again the next day for more computer shopping, only to get more head spinning information and go home to talk to my neighbor some more.

In the midst of this is Mike's 2nd opinion doctor's visit with a surgeon. Within seconds of examining Mike he discovers a HUGE fissure. I do believe "largest I've ever seen" were his exact words. This will require surgery - albeit outpatient - and will require Mike to be off work for a week. When we asked how the other (non-drug prescribing) doctor could have missed it, he said that doctor is used to his "hammer and chisel"! Well, now! Nothing like having a doctor tell you you saw someone from the stone ages!!!! Anyway, surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday - yippee. At least it gives me one morning of a break next week while Katie's in school! I know - I'm being cranky.

So, after the appointment I go back out computer shopping (as Mike watched both kids so I could think) and bought a new computer. Now, I have come to the conclusion that I am computer-jinxed. I have upgraded the printer because the one in the package is way too cheap and the quality was, well, horrible. So, I ask the kid ringing me up (did I just say kid? Lord, I'm getting old!) if he gave me the discount off the printer as it was an upgrade, or did he charge me full price. Oops - charged me full price - so he has to get someone to come and override the price. Now, we get to the payment part - the part I was concerned about. We had to put a "fraud alert" on our credit as our ssn's got compromised from Mike's work (yet another story) and I knew it would be weird paying for this thing. So Equifax told me to write a check as my debit card would be limited. Ok - so I write the check. The kid puts in the info in the register, it then requires him to call a number (I expected this). He talks to them, then I have to talk to them and answer a ton of security questions, then they talk to him again - then - oops - denied because of the fraud alert. WHAT? So I decide to try to debit card and lo and behold it works. Great. Hope this screw up isn't indicative of how the credit reporting agencies handle fraud!!!

So I paid the $49 for Best Buy to start up my computer and get rid of all the ads. Have to wait until Thursday a.m. to pick it up. Got it as soon as they opened - got it home, unpacked it, read the instructions and hooked it up (obviously Mike wasn't home as I actually read the instructions first! LOL!), insert my spyware disc - only to discover they gave me the wrong computer. This was a 64 bit computer - which was compatible with NOTHING! - and I wanted the 32 bit. Arrggghhhh....... So I unhook everything and take it back up there. The manager tells me I was charged for the more expensive computer and that there's only a $40 difference - and oops, we forgot to charge you for the start-up fee of $49. Well, I'm certainly not paying it now - and give me the right computer darn it! So, he gives me the $40 refund (which sounded weird at the time) and they start setting up the right one. Go up there after picking up Zach and it's still not ready - going to be another 1.5 hours. So we go to Target to kill time. Go back and it's got 5-10 minutes left. We start playing with the Wii - ok the kids do as I can't figure out how to get it to work but my 3 year old proceeds to show both Zach and I how to work it! Dang! Well, that $40 price difference thing is gnawing at me - so before picking up the computer I walk over to the computers and look at the price - $40 my rear-end! It was $110 difference.......plus tax!!! I tell the sales guy who then corrects it - and mind you, I'm still smiling and haven't lost my temper! So I go and get my computer, bring it home, open the box and discover the mouse is missing. This wouldn't be a big deal except it's a wireless keyboard and mouse and the mouse has the USB thingy for the keyboard!! SUPER ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Call Best Buy back and the guy is out to lunch (literally, not just figuratively!). Decide to go ahead and pull out the heavy CPU and at least hook up the connections and out plops the mouse. Why he removed it from the box is beyond me. So anyway, after many aggravations with all this - and now I'm on Windows Vista - which is an aggravation all unto itself - I'm back up online. Not sure that's a good thing or bad thing. Life before computers was so uncomplicated!

Calamity after Calamity

We went on vacation to Florida for 10 days. We had to drive because all of the cheap airfares were sold out - it was spring break - and spending $1,000/ticket was beyond comprehension. Well, a day or 2 before we left we remembered that our portable dvd player went on the fritz on our last car adventure. So we ran out and bought another. Best money ever spent!! It was the same price we paid for our last one, but this one didn't skip once - even with all the bumpy roads we went over, the kids could hook up their Plug-and-Play video games to it and play video games - while the other kid watched a dvd on the other screen! That was fabulous as we didn't have to hear "Are we there yet?" every 5 minutes from Katie!

Prior to leaving for vacation, Mike had some testing done for some intestinal pain he was having, but the doctor said it was no big deal - change your diet and things will settle down and be fine. Well, alrighty then. After several weeks, with no change and pain increasing, we wondered whether he would even be able to make the trip. With the thought that this was the first vacation we've taken in 9+ years, and it really wouldn't be safe for me to drive 1,100 miles (one way) with just me and the 2 munchkins - I suggested calling the doctor to get painkillers so he could enjoy the vacation and have a surgeon's appt. for a 2nd opinion set up for immediately following our return. Well, after numerous calls to one doctor, only to discover at 4:45pm the day before we were leaving that he doesn't prescribe pain medication (could you have told us this the DAY before when we called originally????), we called Mike's primary care physician who ordered drugs immediately. Thank you!!!!

So that evening was also our Homeowner's Assoc. annual meeting/election, which I'm helping with. Great, so drive fast as I can to the pharmacy - only to be told at the drive through by this psycho-b*&^h that they had no prescription for him - and did I mention she was completely rude? So I told her it was an "Urgent" prescription and could she please ask the pharmacist. About that time, the pharmacist came over and started griping at her because she failed to notice the Rx sitting on the fax machine that was labelled "Urgent!". She gets all pissy that she's wrong and then tells me that I have to come inside because I'm holding up their line. Ok, does she see that I have red-hair???? I'm in a hurry - since Mike REALLY needs a pill - to get to the HOA thing, and I'm late picking up a neighbor to drive over there because of this mess to begin with - now be a b*tch to me and tell me to come inside. Yep, I went inside.................and proceeded to rip them up one side and down the other. I had that Rx in my hand within a couple of minutes and the pharmacist apologizing profusely for them missing the Urgent Rx and for the psycho at the window. Considering the amount of money we spend there every single month, he'd better be grovelling!

Ok, so anyway, made it home quickly (ok, I was speeding), picked up the neighbor and got to the meeting.....albeit 20 minutes late. We aren't there 10 minutes when a neighbor arrives and asks me what's going on at my house. Say WHAT???? "Yeah, it's crawling with cops with guns drawn". Yeah, right......... Then another neighbor comes in and says the same thing. So prior to freaking out - I call home. Mike is clueless and walks outside with the phone in his hand. "Cops are everywhere and they're telling me to get in the house and lock the doors". About that time, our neighborhood patrol officer (who's off-duty and coming to talk at our meeting) shows up and says nonchalantly "yes, there is a man with a gun that ran into a house and is holed up there.". Helllllllooooooooooo????? That's my next door neighbor's house!!!! He then quickly went downstairs and got the scoop - which turned out to be pretty funny. Our neighbor had a friend who came over to borrow his pellet gun. He took him out back to show it to him and the friend aimed it at the back fence. The neighbor behind them (whom they do NOT get along with) called 911 telling them that a man with a gun was pointing it at her dog and she was afraid he was going to shoot it and her next. All that high-blood pressure for a stupid neighborhood fight. Ah well, pretty funny really.

Anyway, we go on our trip and Mike does very well (thank you hydrocodone!). We hit Sea World and Alligator Farms, the beach numerous times, as well as the swimming pool. We also drive through this state park that is a swamp. They have these "scenic lookout" point where you can pull your car over and take pictures or fish, or whatever. So we stop at one of those so the kids can get a first-hand feel of the swamp. As we're standing there my mom says she's hearing something rustling in the brush behind us. Hello? We're in the swamp - why am I the only one concerned? Then the rustling happens again and Mike says it's fawning season and maybe it's a doe with a fawn. Oh, well now that could be really cool for the kids to see! So, Mike finds a rock and tosses in the area where we were hearing the sounds from. All of the sudden a hoard of black, wild hogs go running up the embankment behind us. I jump and quickly tell the kids to start getting back into the car right as Mike decides it would be fun to let out his AR Razorback pig squeal he learned on our stint living there. great idea. So all the sudden, we hear this wild hog squeal back at us and start running back toward us! You've never seen 6 white people jump in a minivan so fast!! We were all freaking out - including the pig caller! We finally decided that he must've learned the mating call and that hog just came back looking for love!

So that was our vacation excitement! This vacation won't be forgotten anytime soon!!! All of the things that have happened since we got back is another post unto itself. ugh........