Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'm a Bad Daily Blogger

It's been a while since I blogged - for a few reasons...

1. I've been sick. Had a fever on Saturday and this annoying cold...
2. I got called into work on Saturday - I was originally supposed to be off that day, but with economic issues looming, it was prudent to have both managers on duty...thankfully, everything was fine.
3. Sunday night, I hung out with my girlfriends...that was fun.
4. Last night, after work, I went out to dinner with the girls....we went to The Melting Pot in Framingham.

This was the cover of the menu:

This was my drink - the Yin Yang. I am not a drinker - but I could be one if this was all I drank:


I took the two pictures above with a flash on the macro setting of my camera. The ISO on them both is 400 - in macro, the camera will choose all your settings, you just hit the shutter button.
Shooting in ISO 400 will yield a grainy shot - which sometimes is what you want. Check out the texture on both pictures above...if I shot in ISO 100 (which wasn't a choice while shooting in macro), the picture would come out buttery smooth - great for portraits - not necessarily the best for objects, especially things like flowers and food, some animals and furniture.

I've gotta cook dinner - yes, tonight, I'm playing the role of homemaker wannabe...I also have to read for school tomorrow and scrap something...not to mention give the babies baths and stories.
No one has school tomorrow except for me. Lucky them!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Number 7 -

My #7 fact -

I love Star Trek: The Next Generation. I grew up watching that show every weekend with my friends, JayR, Marlette, Marilou, Cheriqui and Nise. While our parents would do 3 night mahjongg marathons, we would all climb into my parents' bed and watch hours of that show...I think my favorite character was Data; the android.

That's all...

I was supposed to be off this weekend but got called into work tomorrow. And I'm getting sick...it's all in my nose and throat. Hopefully the day will fly by...at work, they usually do.

Nitey nite - I'm so pooped!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Tag? I'm it? I guess....

My friend, Kim tagged me - I'm supposed to state 7 facts about myself: Pasting straight from Kim's blog...the rules:

  1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
  2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
  3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
  4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
So here are my facts:

1. I am a left lane driver. I hate driving in the right lane and I hate driving slowly...I am most comfortable driving left handed in the left lane at a speed between 80mph and 85 mph.

2. I've never gotten drunk before in my whole life (yes, this is true) - tipsy enough to stumble - only once - and that was at home, drinking with my roommate. I said goodnight and ended up in the bathroom...my roomie was nice enough to walk me back to my room. Thanks Shaun!

3. I am a musician. I studied classical piano, composition & theory for 8 years, starting when I was 8. It was my high school obsession - I was in the glee club as a soprano I/II and a co-accompanist at school. I was in the Liturgical Chorus, Regis High School Band & Chorus and played Liesl in my senior year's h.s. production of "The Sound of Music".

4. Unfortunately, I used to be a smoker...not anymore - my cigarette of choice? Marlboro Lights Menthol...ahh, if only it weren't so expensive, or smelly, or carcinogenic...I'd take a puff right now....and then I'd be a divorced ex-mother of three...it's Adam's one rule for me. I can even drive 100 mph if the caravan can stand it, I just can't smoke, he said.

5. I read in the bathroom...whatever is handy - sometimes there is actual reading material in my bathroom, sometimes it's just the shampoo bottle...

6. I am a proud member of Red Sox nation. I may have been born in NYC but I was never a Yankees fan. Growing up I was a Met fan...we'll always have '86...but I became a Red Sox fan when I met my husband. I am also now a Patriots Fan, a Bruins Fan, a Celtics Fan and and Brockton Youth Hockey mom. (hi Dylan!)

7. I am struggling to find a seventh interesting thing about me....um...I will have to soul search for this one....get back to you...

Bloggy friends...I only have a very few...and I already have Kim at the top of this page...check out my blog list for where I go - but I'm not tagging anyone...sorry...I'd rather you leave a comment with one interesting fact about you...

tune in for #7 - I'll figure it out this weekend....

P.S. I got a 96 on my first biology exam...we get to drop our lowest test grade - I hope that was my drop... =) me nerd....

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Last weekend's hockey birthday pictures.

I took these at Dylan's last hockey game - they played the Eagles (where are they from? dunno.) at the rink in Pembroke - thankfully the game was at 2:40pm - so all I had to do was drive 45 minutes as soon as I got out of work to the rink- as opposed to waking up at 4:45am to get to that same rink for a 5:50am game...


He had to be a goalie - like his dad in high school. Although, I think he'll be alternating with another player on his team and skate out when that player goaltends...Dylan will play the next game as goalie, though. They lost this game - 5-1. And if Dylan was paying as much attention as he should have, they would have lost 2-1. He'll get there - I'm so proud of how much he's learned in the last year. Last October, he couldn't even skate...

After the game, which most of his cousins came to watch, it was back to mom and dad's house to celebrate some birthdays...I didn't get too many shots but I did get these:



My nephew, Dennis and Angelica share a birthday - and so doesn't my little cousin Charli...popular day for having babies, I guess.

My niece, Samantha is 3 days older than Angel.
They shared this ice cream cake - thus the three candles...we had a do-over blow out for Angel because my nephew, Andrew took it upon himself to blow out her candle...sigh....

I think Angel had a good birthday - at least I hope so...she got some money, dolls, bath stuff, 3 webkinz outfits and a webkinz bag for her bunnie. For my birthday, I got 2 cards, a panic button and all the laundry that I did but have yet to fold...not to worry - 32 is the new 21....I'll just keep on telling myself that....school tomorrow....I get to find out what I got on Monday's test...tune it for that exciting number....

Monday, September 22, 2008

My First Biology Test...sorry no pictures.

Tonight, I took my first biology test - I think I did well...115 multiple guess questions...I completed it in about 25 minutes.

I was a straight A student in grade school and junior high. I was an A- student in high school. The first time I went to college, I was completely stupid. If I had the chance to do it all again, I'd do better in college - oh, wait - that's what I'm doing now...

Being a nerd as an adult, by far, rocks way more than being a nerd as a kid. I didn't have too many friends in grade school. In fact, one day, the girls in my class would be friends with me and the next day, for no apparent reason, they wouldn't speak to me for days. I made friends with the boys...which really sucked for the girls when we got to junior high (I went to Catholic School until 12th grade - St. Mary's in Woodside, NY til 8th grade and Dominican Academy from 9th-12th).

My mother used to tell me that I would not die without my classmates not being my friends. And I didn't. It didn't feel like that at the time. It took a long time for me to get that - but I did and if there is anything that has ever made an impact on me so great that it has molded me as a person, it's that statement: You will not die without them. Those words have given me strength and confidence. They have taught me that I choose with whom to surround myself. Those same words have inferred who is important and who is not.

So now as an adult, I do not fear in being a nerd. I relish in it. I love that I am smart. I love that I know what my strengths are and that I am not so humble so as not to recognize them. I love that I am willing to admit my mistakes and keep on trying and not settle for things less than I want. I love that I know that there is an appropriate time to settle for things. I love that at 32 (it was my birthday yesterday) that I still want to learn - anything and everything - so that I can be as strong as my mom and pass that along to my children.

I'm not sure that my mom ever knew how much those words hurt me as a child and made me as an adult...on second thought, I'm sure she did...thanks mom!!!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Wow - I completely forgot...

We celebrated some birthdays today - Sami, Dennis and Angel....had dinner and ice cream cake at the house. My other nieces and nephews were there too...Caitlin asked "Are you ever gonna put us on your blog?"

My apologies, oversight on my part - sorry....this is Adam's older brother, Scott's family...we vacation with them in Maine too.

This is my niece, Caitlin - that's my blurry brother-in-law, Scott in the background. We took this picture on the side of mom and dad's RV on July 4th. I blurred Scott out a little with some gaussian blur on PSE6.0.
This is Scott with my nephew, Connor - we took this photo on the last day of vacation in Maine. They got the shirts from Great-Grampy Ray when he went down to New Orleans to meet up with Adam's cousin, Lisa. The back of the shirt looked like this:
This is my sister-in-law, Laura with the two kids - I love this picture - even though Caitlin is squishing her mom's face and Connor isn't looking at me - It depicts love - how Caitlin loves her mom and how Laura loves Connor - one of those emotionally perfect shots!!!!
I love this picture of Connor - I cropped it so that his face is the main focus of the photo - I love how you can see his freckles and how red his little lips are!!!! As you can tell by the photo, Connor was begrudgingly a subject for my photos - evident by the semi-non-smile. That Avatar mohawk rocks!!!
He was happy here though - he finally caught a little fishy. The fishy....not so happy.
I told all the kids during vacation that they were going to be my subjects for shooting. Thankfully, Caitlin was cool with it...I love this picture of her!!! Big smile, in focus...it's great!

This is Scott and his girls. I love this picture too...not the best, compositionally, but certainly a great shot - I think Caitlin is starting to crack up because her dad was squishing her and her mom.
Finally, this shot - one of my favorites - this is a picture of the Rees boys. I think this picture is compositionally sound for a group shot, but there are a few things wrong with it - for starters, it was taken nearly blown-out (overexposed) with the pond at their backs and high noon-ish time overcast light. It didn't help that dad's shirt is white and that I got a shot of light to bounce off dad's noggin so badly that it made it look like his head was part of the background. Still, I love this picture (even though Adam likes to take his photo at parade rest - a military pose).

P.S. Caitlin, Connor, Scott and Laura - sorry this took so long to post - I know I had the other nieces and nephews in shortly after vacation. I can be such a loser. Please don't hold it against me. Love you guys!!!!


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's a Little Strange

It's a little strange to drop all three kids off to school. I'm so used to having at least Melody at home....she started nursery school last Thursday. With the day off today, I got to bring them to school today - so what did I do with my 2 1/2 kid-free hours? I sorted out mail and threw out a lot of papers that I hadn't gotten the chance to go through. Junk mail is such a waste of paper.

I read some pages of chapter 5 in my biology textbook. And then I had to pick up Melody - after picking up cat and dog food at the grand re-opening of our local Wal-Mart, I came home and cooked us lunch. I also made the kids snacks for when they come home and baked a loaf of beer bread.

What would I rather have been doing?

Taking pictures or scrapping or making Christmas cards or fixing my scrap room or soaking in the hot tub. Any of those would have suited me just fine - the other kids will be home in a little over an hour and so won't Adam - and it will probably look like I didn't do anything at all - because the girls' room still looks like a bomb hit it after Melody got home.

Still, it's a little strange being home when noone else is there because they all have some place to be.

This was taken on the night of the first day of school. The morning was too much of a rush to get good pictures. I learned that if you are going to have part of someone's face in focus in a picture, make sure that it is their eyes. Hard to see, but much of Melody's face and below that is slightly OOF, but her eyes are sharply focused.

And now that she's in school.....
...Melody thinks she knows it all....it's just like my Uncle Mario said at Jay and Jenny's rehearsal dinner, "when it's your kids, it's just a matter of time." I'm sure he wasn't referring to my 3 year old showing me that she SO knows more than me in this picture.

Both pictures above were taken with my Canon 50mm. I did use my flash as it was getting dark outside and it was overcast as well...

Off to school tonight - tonight's lesson - the structure and function of molecules. And in tonight's lab, we build models of molecules. Exciting stuff, people!!! Maybe I'll bring my camera.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Other stuff I did in NYC

So we went to NYC last Thursday (Sept. 11). I must say that that day is my least favorite day of the year.

We lived in NYC 7 years ago when our country was senselessly attacked by terrorists. It was the day my generation's world dramatically changed from what it used to be. Adam was a police officer on the NYPD, but he worked the Third Watch shift, 4pm-12am. So he was home that morning. The first plane hit the South Tower of the WTC while we were watching the Today Show. I decided that I would take a shower, and while I was in the bathroom the second plane hit the North Tower of the WTC.

I remember Adam pounding on the bathroom door, demanding that I get out of the bathroom as he was going to get ready to go to work. He hadn't been called, there wasn't anything announced on tv about any emergency workers needing to report for duty, he just knew that he was going. So into the shower he went, and off to work he rushed. Adam worked in the 105th Precinct, which was on the border of Queens and Nassau County, Long Island. He didn't come home for 3 days. He called when he could just to tell us where he was and what he was doing....mostly standing guard at different places in his precinct. When he finally came home, he told us all vacation time has been temporarily recalled and they cut the shifts from 3- eight hour shifts to 2 - twelve hour shifts. It went on like that for 5 weeks.

I watched the towers fall on television. These two towers that were the reflections of power my city had over the world. Gone...in 102 minutes. When the second tower collapsed, I had just put Dylan down for a nap...and after closing the door to his room, walked to the living room where I just fell to the floor in tears. I was alone, unsure of what else could happen to my city. My mom was in Manhattan when everything happened, at a doctor's appointment. She made it by bus to the 59th Street Bridge from downtown but then had to walk across the bridge as the city locked down and the only way to get in and out of the city was by foot. Mom made it home past 8pm that night - dad picked her up at the foot of the bridge - 5 miles from our house. It took her that long to walk the bridge - she started walking around lunchtime.

A few days after the 12 hour shifts started (he worked from 6pm-6am), he and his partner at the time were sent to the WTC. We only had one car, so I drove him into the city as far as I could before the streets were barricaded (about 1 mile radius from Ground Zero). I remember it being fairly dark at 5:30 on a Sept. morning, but since there was 24 hour digging going on, even a mile away, it was lit up like daytime with flood and construction lights.

Adam only went down there twice and his job both times, with his partner, was to be a supply runner into what they called the pit. He took in water and masks and gloves and tools and buckets and such things to people who actively dug through rubble to find survivors and remains. While he won't (or can't) talk about it at length, Adam said being there was like being in a nightmare that you couldn't wake up from. He said that he spent what felt like hours in the pit looking around at the destruction, paralyzed with such disbelief, when in reality it was only a few minutes. He ended up developing asthma from his exposure and hopefully nothing more...only time will tell.

In the days that followed, I felt helpless but determined to be part of the humanity that resulted from the tragedies of 9/11. I went door-to-door in my neighborhood of 3 1/2 blocks and dropped a typed invitation to a candlelight walk to our local firehouse to thank the firemen there (they lost a few men, in the days prior, to a huge fire in Queens). I wasn't sure if anyone would come, so while I was getting Dylan ready to go for a walk in his stroller, my father came and told me to hurry up and come outside. And when I got out my door, we had about 150 people gathered to walk. So we lit our candles and walked about 1/2 mile to our local firehouse. The firemen were just saying goodbye to another group from a different neighborhood, because the bus taking them back to the WTC was waiting for them. I hadn't prepared anything to say, when we got there. So I said the only thing that I could think of, "thank you for your sacrifice, everyday." I turned to my neighbors and said, "Shake their hands, give them hugs...it isn't everyday that you get to touch a real hero."

We're reminded of that day, by little things that happen in our lives, everyday - like I happen to catch the time 9:11 on a digital clock at least 10 times a week. I don't seek it, it just happens. If Adam starts coughing and it doesn't go away in a day or two, it reminds me of the damage that may have occurred due to his exposure. I make him see a doctor about it, nearly right away - when I myself wouldn't go to the doctor right away for anything. When we watch an old movie with the old NYC skyline, we feel the pang of emptiness because our city doesn't look like that anymore. We have an illuminated panorama of that same skyline, it used to hang in our living room - it's now in our bedroom.

Originally, when we went down to NYC, Adam had no plans of coming with me to take pictures of the Tribute in Light...two beams of light that shine where the WTC Towers once stood. But I asked him to come with me, in case it was desolate (I think living up here has made me less "city" and not that I fear NYC, but rather fear something happening to my camera). We went to the Promenade in Brooklyn that is directly across the East River from Lower Manhattan. It was littered with NYPD officers and dozens of people doing the same thing I was there doing - taking pictures. Everyone had a tripod, everyone had a zoom lens, everyone had video cams. I should have known better; I was not going to be alone out there and it wasn't like taking a picture of this place is an original idea, known to only to me.

These are what I got...



I wish I didn't have photos of light beams - these shots would have been only better with Towers in them.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Wedding

We're home safe and sound - thankfully...

A big shout out to my buddy, Susan, for being a weekend zookeeper - despite the fact that Odie whined all night as she tried to sleep over. I'm sorry, Su....

JayR and Jenny's wedding - what a beautiful event!!! I took a ton of pictures and some of them came out nicely:

This is Jenny and Angelica in the Bridal Suite. She looked stunning - Jenny was the absolute picture of beautiful that day...she was cool and seemed relaxed and looked like she enjoyed everything.
This was Angel in the hallway outside the Chapel at Jericho Terrace in Mineola, NY (it was very pretty!). She took this job seriously and did just fine - walked and threw her petals in the right place and listened to directions. It made me so proud of her. Her favorite parts were the dress, the shoes and the makeup...
The wedding ceremony took place in the Chapel at the Jericho Terrace. I took this picture with my Canon 75-300mm, no flash. We didn't have the best seats for the ceremony, which was in the middle of a circle.
This is the happy couple - right before we had the professional photographer take our group photo with them. She just looked like a doll....

I don't cry at these kinds of things, but I did when JayR and Jenny publicly thanked their parents and JayR ended up in tears...me too. I also got teary when he danced with his mom to Kenny Rogers' "Through the Years" (I love that song)!!!

It was the biggest wedding, I'd ever been to - 390 guests at last count. There had to be at least 100 people at the rehearsal dinner - JayR's family provided dinner for all their out of town guests at the hotel they were staying...JayR's dad, my Uncle Mario is an amazing cook - I grew up with his cooking. (I took that picture of Angelica at the rehearsal dinner)

JayR and I go way back - I know we are distant cousins but we were close friends as kids. His dad, my Ninang Emily (godmother and mom's best friend) and some other friends of my parents would visit nearly every weekend to play mahjongg for 3 days straight. Everyone would come over late Friday night, stay all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday since I was in the 8th grade. We learned how to play mahjongg by watching them. When I wasn't doing something in school on the weekends, I was with JayR and his sisters, Marlette and Marilou. They were quite shy in the beginning, clinging to their father's leg for dear life (they're all a little bit younger than me) but once they warmed up, we lived for these weekends and getting busted for making so much noise in the middle of the night and watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and having Uncle Mario's cooking all weekend long. We went on vacation to Lake George together. We celebrated holidays and birthdays and graduations. JayR was my prom date (I was single in Senior Year of high school) and he was a groomsman in my wedding. He's Angelica's Ninong (godfather). And I'm ever so glad that he married Jenny (they've been together longer than I have been with Adam).

Congratulations, newlyweds - may all your dreams come true with the fewest obstacles that can hurt the least but make you the strongest you can ever be.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Catchin' Up...

Last night's class was chemistry 101 packed into 3 hours and 15 minutes of lecture and 45 minutes of lab. I LOVE THIS SCIENCE!!!! I find biology fascinating!!! I can never get enough of it...

Monday night we had Susan's CTMH party. Good times, great bunch o' gals - great hors d'ouvres. Thanks for having us over, Susan!!!!

Let's see what else is exciting - well, I took today and tomorrow off from work - we're going home to NYC. Saturday, my friends JayR and Jenny are getting married. Angelica is a flower girl in the wedding. Originally, they wanted Melody to be the flower girl but Adam brought up a good point when they asked us months ago about it - Melody will likely not do it. Too many people looking at her. As she gets a little older, she's become better about being the spotlight but she still needs to be prompted - and since my friend JayR didn't pick me to be the flower girl, I told him that he should probably take Angel instead - because I know that she'll be nervous but she will do it. And it works out because he is her Godfather.

Tune in tomorrow for more blog-a-riffic material....I'm sure our trip to NYC will yield some excitement.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Sigh - I'm out!!!

You remember how I said that I was thinking about registering for Karen Russell's online class, "The Photographer's Workshop"? Well, I submitted the registration at 12:01pm (registration started at 12:00pm EST)...and I got locked out - totally sold out both classes - the good news is that I am #46 on the waiting list for the class that begins in November 2008 and #31 for the January class - that's great - by the time I get into a class it might be 2010...I'm hoping to have a couple of new lenses and an upgraded camera body by then...sigh....

Tonight was my friend, Susan's CTMH party. Guess who is the consultant? Yup - I do this on the side....I sometimes think "I do this on what side? My crazy side, I think so!!!" So, I'm a full time Asst. Br. Mgr., mom and wife. I'm a part-time college student. I'm a wannabe part-time semi-professional photographer. I'm a decent very part-time CTMH consultant. I'm the VP of my kids' PTA and I'm on the Board for Brockton Youth Hockey as their fundraising coordinator. I'm constantly trying to manage my time wisely...something's gotta give - so there sits this 3 foot tall pile of clean clothes in my bedroom...(there you go, for all of you who wanted to know how I do it) - it may actually have to get sorted out after work tomorrow so that I can pack for our trip to NYC.

Photos, right? - because that is why I started this blog....

Have I told you lately, how much I love my Canon 50mm? This is Melody trying to give me a dandelion that she picked off the grass in our backyard. I love how she's all fuzzy in the back and her little hand (thank goodness it's not so grubby) holding that flower is in sharp focus. I vivid colored this picture (yes, it's an action from EZActions.com) That action makes that color just pop!
This is what happened next:
Since I was busy taking pictures, she fed the dandelion to Buster.

Nothing cuter than a boy and his dogs...this photo was vignetted just a little -



This photo too....it's just Dylan cropped out the picture above this one. He looks so grown up in the picture - he's just gonna be 8 in December.

This week is insanely full - tomorrow is school's open house. I have class on Wednesday. We're going home to NYC on Thursday, Friday is my friend's wedding dress rehersal (Angelica is a flower girl- and I still haven't figured out what I'm wearing to that shin-dig). Saturday is my friend's wedding and we're coming home Sunday in time for Dylan's hockey practice at 2pm. So I'll try to get pictures of something half interesting and post them - although that may need to wait until we come back from NYC. I have some reading that needs to be done for school tomorrow and a scrap assignment that I had been putting off.

Off to bed for a few zzzz's before we get to wake up and do it all again tomorrow....yahoo!!!!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

MY First Day @ School

So, I forgot to blog about my first day of school. I don't want to sound precocious (I think that is the right word to use), but Biological Principles is a class that I think I bypassed in high school when I took AP Biology. When I went to college the first time around, this was the class that was geared towards non-science people. I supposed since it has been 10 years since I was in college, that it is still a good idea to take this class- as a refresher.

Timewise, it's tough - most Wednesdays, I work until 430pm and have to run myself back cross 2 towns to get to school by 530pm. The lecture part is 2 hours. The lab is also 2 hours.

This week's lecture was an overview of what we are going to learn this semester. This week's lab was weighing water and calculating different scientific measurements. Nothing too difficult - I'm waiting until the DNA extraction from a strawberry towards the end of the semester...I did that experiment in high school too - though we didn't use a strawberry...if i recall correctly, we may have used a hair follicle or a drop of blood - high school was way too long ago - 14 years ago was when I started, I can't remember....

I do remember having a wonderful biology teacher, Marina Gilleaudeau (who unfortunately passed away, too young, while I was in college). She was the number one reason I love this science over all others. She was a strong woman who made her students feel like we could do just about anything. I came home to NYC from school in Boston, when I found out that she was gone. It was the first wake I ever cried at; I had been to others before hers, only I don't usually cry at these things.

Anyway, my first day at school - uneventful but I'm still glad to be doing it and still motivated to keep on going....no picture of me - by the time, I picked up the kids from school and got them home (which, ask my friend, Susan) was no picnic - it was like a riot of 720 kids and their parents trying to get them from the school parking lot - I had enough time to drop off my friend, find out where my class was, get coffee and get to the school bookstore to buy my non-returnable, custom made for MCC textbook for $75.00. I'm gonna have to post the book for sale at the end of the semester - hopefully the bio dept. will use it for another semester.

I'll get a good picture of me soon enough...maybe I can ask one of the kids to take it tomorrow....

Doing something new

A friend of mine, Michelle, has lots of cool things on her blog. Me, being the biter that I am, decided to figure out how to do this - so here I am trying this out - if I can remember to put this on my blog everytime I post, it'll be at the bottom - it should start by itself. Tell me what you think...

I'm so tired....

I have been up since 3:30am this morning - I couldn't go back to sleep after waking up at 3am. We had to get up early because today was Dylan's first hockey game....at 5:50am...in Pembroke (about 15 miles away). The girls slept over mom and dad's while Adam and I took Dylan to the Hobomock Rink...and after I went to work until 2pm.

I got some pictures:
If you ever wanted to know what fresh ice looked like in a closed rink - there it is...

This is what fresh ice looks like when it's done. Both these photos and the one below were taken with my Canon 50mm through the glass, no flash.
It's hard to see in this picture but that clock in the upper right hand corner says 5:31 (am)...yawn!

I'm so disappointed that I didn't get a picture of him full uniform before the game - for a crack of dawn game, it sure was energetic...by the middle of the second period, I had no voice left...I'm sure that my hands and arms were shaky from fatigue, thus the slight blur - took this photo with my Canon 75-300mm at full zoom...no flash. Snazzy uniforms - all of our city's teams are Boxers (it's on the front of Dylan's jersey).

I took pictures of other kids but didn't want to post - haven't asked yet...wanted to see how they came out first.

Anyway, they lost against Pembroke, 7-2. Dylan was not happy about it - but they scored the most (4 goals) in the second half of the first period...when Dylan thought it was a great idea to dive for the puck - he missed a couple of times...thus the pep talk from Adam at the end of the 1st period and they only scored 3 more after that- one of which was a lucky shot that took an odd bounce off his blocker.

I'm seriously contemplating taking Karen Russell's 9-week online photography class called
"The Photographer's Workshop". Registration is on Monday at 9am PST. It's expensive but she's an awesome instructor/photographer. We'll see - between work and school and hockey and PTA and scrapping, I'm not sure I have time to do it...I'll think about it a bunch this weekend.

I should take a nap but I am going to start cooking dinner. I'm starving ....thank goodness hockey doesn't end until April...gives me plenty of time to practice my sports shots...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Everyone's First Day of School....well, almost everyone

Today is the first day of school in our city. Everyone starts today....Dylan begins the 3rd grade. Angel will start 1st grade (they'll both be at the same school - finally). Adam is a School Resource Officer at one of the junior high schools (soon to be middle schools). I start Massasoit tonight.
I take pictures on the first day of school (ok, I take pictures all the time)....those will probably make it up here in the am. I'll be sure to get someone to take my picture (as long as they know where the skinny button is on the cam).

We got off to a great start - the kids were ready, we had some time - so we took some pictures (with my Canon 50mm)

These were taken in the our front yard - all unedited...

It's not Melody's first day of school today - she has orientation and one day of school next week - she was a not happy about it this morning but when we told her it was her job to get the kids to school today, she was good with that (any chance to tell her brother and sister what to do, I guess...). We even picked out an appropriate shirt for her to wear today - It says, "I may small but I'm the boss!"


We shot about 45 pictures in the front yard. I got this one of Dylan while we were at a stop light.
And finally, when we got to school - the utter chaos began - about 60 teachers trying to gather 720 students in the schoolyard to their appropriate lines...with most of the kids and parents still trying to find out their teacher assignments. We knew who Angelica had (I checked in with the principal last week) but it took us 10 minutes to find out who Dylan has. When we got all that information squared away, we dropped him off to his line and found Angelica's line. Our friends' John and Rita's youngest son, Brady is in Angelica's class. This is them:
They weren't in the same kindergarten class last year but they were in one year of pre-school together (where Melody will be going next week).

I did take a picture of Adam this morning on his way out but he's not a morning person on top of being anti-photo (I know, you're thinking, where did I find this guy?)...so I won't be posting his picture here - maybe he'll let me take his picture another time....weenie.
My first day isn't until later tonight - I'll get someone to take my picture too.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

So good...

Let me blog about something unrelated to photography and kids for a minute...Prison Break ROCKED last night!!!! Not just because Michael Scofield is the hottest thing on tv, I love getting lost in a good show. Who thought that after they broke out of Fox River in the beginning would the writers have enough to continue the show over 4 seasons?

You know what else I love? I love the feeling you get on the inside when you don't know what is going to happen and in anticipation you start to get a sick feeling on the inside. I love that!!! I also love thinking of a possible result and then finding out that the outcome is different because you never thought it would come out like that. Fox is good for that. (***You know what else is good for that? Law & Order - but I've watched that long enough that I've been able to figure out who the real criminal is and the verdicts a few times).

Other shows I'm looking forward to:

House
- that Dr. House is such a jerk - I love it!!! There's no one cute on this show but it's still good TV. I can't diagnose anyone on this show...I'm not a diagnostician.

ER - final season - and yippy!!! Dr. Carter is back!!!

Grey's Anatomy - I got turned onto this show by someone at work (I can't remember who now...could've been Sarah). Everyone is good looking on this show...

(***Do you see a pattern developing? I love medical shows - they make for good drama.)

Law & Order: SVU - Again, no one good looking on this show - but still a good watch -

Knight Rider - Mike Tracer is SO cute!!! He's played by actor Justin Bruening- I'm glad they brought this back - they only made the pilot that I dvr'ed and watched twice before deleting it. I guess the guy used to be on All My Children - who cares - he's the original Michael Knight's son.

As you can tell, most of my waking moments are wasted in front of primetime television...I am usually scrapping in front of the tv or cuddling with Adam when he's home in front of the tv. I know it's probably rotting out my brain but it's all just so good!!!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Today...

Today, we tried to finish school shopping for the kids. We'll still have to get them backpacks because we went up to the Burlington Mall only to find that there was not a Disney store there. I still have tomorrow - Dylan and Angelica don't start school until Wednesday.

One thing we did find at the Burlington Mall is Chick-Fil-A. I think this may be the only chicken place that can even be compared to KFC. I'm not a big chicken fan - but I'm instantly a huge Chick-Fil-A fan. And today, they did their free chicken strips giveaway if you were donning a football logo of some kind. While Adam wore a Mickey and Donald shirt that dad embroidered with my sewing machine, he does have the Notre Dame Leprechaun tattooed on his forearm. That won us a free sample of chick-n strips. I had the original chick-fil-a sandwich with cheese and mayo - It was fabulous!!! I don't believe there are any Chick-Fil-As on the South Shore, but certainly the ride north is worth it. There are also Chick-Fil-As at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH and at the North Shore Mall in Peabody, MA. That chicken sandwich was enough to make me cluck with eggcitement (ok, I killed it right there).

Dylan had hockey practice again tonight. I took the girls (even though this is the most boring thing in the world for them) so that I could take pictures to post here. These are some of the shots I got:

I shot this photo through the glass with my Canon 75-300mm @f/4.5 1/30sec. with no flash. I set my ISO to 400 - meaning that this picture is not going to be the most buttery smooth picture when it gets printed - it would come out grainy (relative to ISO 100 which is buttery smooth). The graininess is called noise. You can reduce noise with editing software (that I don't have). PSE6.0 will let you reduce noise too. I didn't adjust the noise because I'm not printing a big picture and it's not that noticeable on the web.

Adam has been helping out as a "coach". Today, there were four guys on the ice with the Mite-C team. This photo was shot with the same settings except my shutter speed was 1/25sec.
This is a picture I took of Angel rinkside - yes with a flash - I don't care about the flash at this moment because that is the best smile I've gotten in a picture of Angel that I can remember. She still has this giant dimple in her left cheek - hooray for that dimple!!! I didn't edit this picture at all. She looks a little washed out but who cares when that dimple is all shiny and happy!!!
This is a cropped Mocha picture of Melody who was posing with Angel when Angel moved out of the picture and made her half blurry. She's been a load of trouble lately - sometimes, being 3 years old is challenging. Her favorite thing to say to you after you tell her to do something is, "I don't wanna"....sigh....that's all I have to say about that.

This is a short post because "Prison Break" has it's 2 hour season premiere tonight. Most people who know me know that the lead character in the show, Michael Scofield is my boyfriend. Even my husband, Adam knows it. Michael Scofield is played by actor, Wentworth Miller. You can see pictures of him here.

We can talk about him more later - time to get the kids ready for bed - school starts for all of us on Wednesday - we're dialing back bedtime to 8pm starting tonight....yippy for bedtime!!!