photowalk 09/28/09

the best and the worst

The undefeated Salina Pirates!

Some days I am just the best.  Otherdays, not so much.  Yesterday for about 1.5 hours I was the best.  You see, in-between Carson's soccer games, I needed to run to the store to get another memory card.  I had a brillian idea to go to Wal-Mart (yes, the dreaded Wal-Mart...but only because they have the machine...keep reading) and get the cards, but to also develop the photos I took during the first game, and take them back with me to the second game.  Our Wal-Mart has several of those "instant develop" machines, which don't do so well for really high quality developing, but for parents of kids who were playing soccer a mere 2 hours ago, it is pretty cool.  So, I had photos for parents of all of the kids on the team (save for one, who somehow I missed).  It was a good afternoon.

Truer words were never said (sung)

You say you gotta go and find yourself
You say that you're becomming someone else
Don't recognize the face in the mirror
Looking back at you

...

I can't get close if you're not there
I can't get inside if there's no soul to bare
I can't fix you, I can't save you
It's something you have to do

Come Back to Me
David Cook
(cringing as I type that)

I am alive

The flu?  It was horrible.  It seems the older I get the worse these things make me feel.  After 3 days in bed, I am finally up and around.  I ate a little rice today.  I stripped our bed.  Typhoid Amanda is no more.  Be gone, you nasty flu!

you capture-macro

This week's You Capture theme was macros.  I love taking pictures with the macro function, but with this new camera, I need much more practice.  It is really hard to keep really still!  On with the show:

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triathlon...check

I finished.

1:35:57

swim, bike, run

I can check that off my list.

Will I do it again?

Yes, with a road bike

sabatical...from life

the view from Coronado Heights on a hazy Labor Day

I need a break

>
a sabatical from my life

my heart just isn't in it

I am worn out, worn down and tired.

marriage is hard

work is not rewarding

my only joy right now is my children.

I recognize all of these things;
I know I need to take some time away
away from this life I have created
to cry
to reflect
to meditate
to be creative
to get back to being me.

I have started the internal process

of seperation

from this life I have created,

and I need to stop it

before

the cord is cut.

please think of me. I need all the thoughts I can get.

you capture-old signs

This week's You Capture challenge was old signs. I live in a part of the world where there are old signs everywhere. Just a quick trip down the road and I can drive through numerous old (mostly abandoned) towns. I have always loved looking at old signs, and it was fun to photograph them!

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found time

Last night, Molly had soccer practice.  Carson did too, but his coach (his dad) ws sick, so it was cancelled.  I found myself with a great opportunity for some time alone with my son.  Carson.  The 9-year-old.  My 4th grader.  My lovey-dovey, will-still-kiss-me son.  I love this "found time."  So, we decided I talked him into going to the boy's high-school soccer game.   We got ourselves some nachos, Starburst and a Diet Dr. Pepper.  We made our way up to the top of the stadium to watch.

The game was a blow-out.  None of his friends were there.  The crowd was sparse.  We had a ball.  It was so pleasant and wonderful to just spend time with my son.  My growing-up-too-quickly son.  My son who scooted up close to me to just hung out.  You see, it wasn't even about the game.  The game, honestly was boring and secondary.  For us, it was just about being together.  A hour of time we had stumbled upon to share. 

I love these found times, and have to keep reminding myself to look for them; not to worry about having a whole afternoon together, but to enjoy those little blips of time together on his growing-up timeline.  little blips...

have you ever...

...gone to Burger King for lunch (after a long bike ride and then a run) and ordered both a Whopper with cheese (without tomato) AND a classic chicken sandwich?  Because you couldn't decide which sounded better?  And ate them both?  I did.   Today.

felt tip pens

whoa! Posts 3 days in a row...something must be wrong. Maybe I am getting back to normal?

Just wanted to profess my love to all the world for Paper Mate Flair felt-tip pens. Man, I love me a good felt-tipper. I usually use a black or bright green at work, but they come in all of these delicious flavors: pink, black, blue, red, green, purple, magenta (or as my HS physics teacher used to call it: mag-neta. Every time I see the word magenta, I think of Mr. E.), plum, lime, marigold, navy, yellow, olive, tangerine, lilac and sky blue.

That's all!

on exercise and dreams

dreamy clouds?

Last night I rode my bike for 80 minutes (and damn if my vagina bone* doesn't hurt today). You see, I am an evening exerciser. I believe it all started when I started running, and my plantar fasciitis was really bothering me. It was so bad that I couldn't even think about exercising until my feet had been sufficiently "warmed up"...like walked upon all day. This plus the fact that I had 2 children under the age of 3 at home to get ready in the mornings kind of took all the desire for getting up early away.

Anyhoo...I still like to do my exercise in the evening. I love the cold and cover of the night. I like to feel all alone. It soothes my body and my brain. However, I have come up with something lately that has just revealed itself: the connection between hard exercise and vivid dreams.

After last night's ride, I had the most vivid dreams. Like being scratched by baby raccoons and having to get rabies shots. Like forgetting the combination to my swimming pool locker EVERY time I was at swim practice. Like dreams of past friends/boyfriends where I remember every word they said. Like Carrie and Kerry thinking that taking in baby raccoons was a good idea.

See? Really vivid dreams, and ones that I remember too. Strange dreams that HAVE to have something to do with the exercise. I am going to go today and get a little notebook to start recording these dreams, and to track them to see if they are related to my exercise. Thoughts anyone?

*many thanks to Zak of Shindig for introducing me to the phrase vagina bone. But damn if I can find that post...

you capture-food

Oh! Hello there! I'm still here, but have been MIA for a while! There's nothing like a You Capture and a new camera to get me back into the swing of things. Work has been a killer lately, and school has started (see, I even didn't get to post pics of the first day of school, things were so crazy) but things appear to be loosening up, so I might be back to normal soon (whatever that means).

So, without further ado: food.

We are big canners in our family (and by we, I mean my father-in-law and I). Here you will see some of the beautiful salsa we canned this year, and grape jelly from last year...our last jar (the horrors of store-bought jelly!) You can also see the pretty pickled beets peeking thru on the right. We can and we freeze. We freeze and we can. Pictures of frozen things aren't nearly as pretty. Green beans, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and applesauce in glass jars are much prettier.

Please join us!

today

today I am a bitch

today I would have been 'snarky' had I chosen to talk to anyone

I kind of feel like this:

...fuzzy...wonky...blurry, a little out-of-sorts

...i don't want to stay but I don't know where to go

...i am simultaneously overjoyed and annoyed by my family

...i'm not happy but i'm not really sad

...i don't want to work, but i don't want to be at home either

...i have to travel tomorrow but don't feel like it

...i'm irritated and elated at the same time

and worst of all:...nothing sounds good to eat.

I have had one good hard run this today, and am heading back out for another now.

Some times this does it for me.

Here's hoping I wake up tomorrow refreshed and a little closer to my other self.

it's been busy around here

It seems like lately I have just been rattling on in my head only. It's been busy around here...

We had a MAJOR storm on Monday. I spent all afternoon cleaning up downed limbs at my house, my parent's house and various neighbor's houses. School started on Wednesday. My kids were ready, and so was I. We have finally finished painting and laying new bamboo floors in both the kids rooms. They also swapped rooms, and got a whole new redecorate in the process. This has occupied a lot of my brain space. My company bought a new business last week. I have been traveling, orienting new employees, setting up new computers and the like. Next week I go out of town to Georgia. Soccer practice has started for both kids, and football will be here before we know it. I am looking forward to fall. I miss wine Wednesdays with my bestest friends. I haven't been exercising like I should be for the triathlon in 4 weeks. Molly got the teacher she wanted for 2nd grade. Me too, as she is a dear, dear friend of mine. Where does the time go these days? I got to have beers with one of my old work buddies this week. I don't go out like that enough any more. I have been spending a lot of time in my car lately...sometimes in silence, other times with the music blaring. Most times with s book-on-tape filling the time. Tonight we go to our friend's house for fresh crab from the Virginia coast. A 'last hurrah' to summer. I can't wait. Fall is on it's way. Will there be a little peace as well? Only time will tell!

you capture-motion

This week's theme for You Capture was motion. As usual, I had high hopes of learning a few things about the shutter speed of my camera, but as usual, that didn't happen. However, I was caught in a major Kansas summer thunder storm and managed to get a few cool motion shots while driving.

Out the front windshield...

Out the driver's side window. Doesn't this look a little like a watercolor painting?

I really love this one!

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have you ever considered...

• picking up and moving to Europe?


• changing jobs?


• uprooting your family in favor of a simpler life?

Just a few things we have been pondering this weekend without children at home...

man I miss them.

you capture-you (me)

This is me

in all

my glory...

this was painful

I really wanted to work on using my camera's timer, but didn't get that done this week...

join us:

lack of teeth and laughter

I simply love these photos of Molly laughing. Such spunk and spirit, and so few teeth at the moment!

staycation

My children leave on Thursday for summer vacation with my parents. I am taking Friday and Monday off for a little staycation of my own. Things I have planned:

sleep (late), eat, drink (wine with friends), garden, travel (hopefully to KC to pick up some cool lockers my designer, Jamie found for me...more on that later),read (at LEAST 2 books), run, build (a platform bed for Carson's room), bike, swim (in a lake!), walk the dog (she's 20# over weight!), read more (all my magazines piling up), transfer (photos from work laptop to external hard-drive), paint (Molly's room), shop, drive(to McDonald's and back for Diet Cokes), and finally, finish laying bamboo flooring in Molly's room.

Phew...hope I make it to the other side alive!

ps, these and other caterpillar photos are over at my flickr photostream!