From My Nephew's Point of View

Well mostly. Last Sunday John and I woke up way too early for the day after Oyster Bake and headed up to my parents' house to visit with my Aunt and Grandma that were in town from Indiana.

My punk of a nephew was there with my little brother. He HAD to show me his new race track.



He has a crazy obsession with flashlights as well.



While waiting for my Aunt and Grandma to get back to their hotel I tried to get him to take a picture with me.



He was NOT excited about it.



"How about I let you take some pictures with my camera once you take a picture with me? OK!!!



This one is my favorite picture of the two of us



These were all taken by my 3 year old nephew - his dad



Grandpa



Aunt Faith



Grandma



Self Portrait



Crazy Uncle John



Trying to take our picture in the mirror



Great Aunt Cindy



Shots from his car seat





He actually had Macro on when he shot this. Not sure how he managed it, but he did!





We grabbed some lunch where Great Grandma and Great Aunt Cindy read to him



and he and Uncle John growled at eachother



I think we all had a great (and for John and I exhausting) weekend. It was fun to spend some time with family including those that I don't get to see that often.

First Harvest

The other day I pulled up a few radishes (have picked 2 more since) and a green onion. The onion I picked because it was sending out a flower which is not a good thing. It's due to the hot, cold, hot, cold weather and the onion got confused and thought it was done.

Hopefully I'll have some more pictures like this soon. There are a lot of flowers out there!

Time

It seems that I don't have enough time these days. I'm probably working 40 hours between the two jobs which is what I did before. Maybe I'm not a morning person? I used to do a lot more in the evenings, but now I just want to get home and relax. A lot of times I don't even have time to write. I must confess, a lot of recent posts have been scheduled. I write when I have time and if I have time I'll write several at once.

My typical day is to get up and do some job searching. Then I pay bills or balance the checkbook or do whatever thing I absolutely have to get done that day. Job searching can take up a big chunk of time, especially if I find something to apply for. Job searching really could be a full time job! Usually by then I eat lunch and sometimes I'll start to make dinner. Yes. I cook dinner midday. This way I can take some with me to work and then John has something to eat when he gets home. I don't do this every day, maybe twice a week. Once a week I usually have to get up even earlier because I have an appointment or an errand to run. Before I know it it's getting close to 2:30 which is when I have to be at work and I'm left wondering where the morning went.

By the time I get home at about 9:30 I'm exhausted. I don't want to do half the things that need to be done and often don't. This just adds to the ever growing list of things to do.

Next week they're moving me to a different department and I'll have 8:30-5 hours. I'm excited to have normal hours again and will hopefully have a bit more time, but if I have an interview I'm not sure when I'll be able to do it. That'll be a big downside, but the new position may actually be resume material if I choose to put it on there.

12 Weeks to Better Photography - Week 8

This week was about shooting things in motion. I confess that I didn't have time to take pictures specifically for this lesson, but I did have it in mind at Oyster Bake. I bring you back to the Orbiter.



I put the shutter speed really slow for this shot. The blur really shows how fast this ride can go.



This is sped up a bit and you can make out the seats a little bit.



This one is still a bit blurry. I took it at 1/60 and didn't take one at a faster speed. Had I, I probably could have frozen the individual seats since 1/60 is still very low.



Next week we'll work on portraits!

Ten on Tuesday

1. What two cities should be moved closer together?
San Antonio and Chicago. It's totally where I'd live aside from the whole windy and freezing cold weather.

2. What was the first plane ride you took?
We flew from Vegas (I think we may have been living in California at the time. Not sure) to Houston to visit family. My mom still makes fun of me because I got off the plane, walked outside and asked, "Why is it so sticky?" that's called Houston humidity for you.

3. What continent would you most like to visit?
Hmmmm....I'd like to go to Asia next.

4. What’s your favorite place to window-shop?
Anywhere. I love window shopping. Especially when done online.

5. What’s the least fun you’ve ever had at a place specifically tailored for fun?
One year I headed to Austin for Halloween on 6th Street. I just wasn't in the mood. I think I even begged my boyfriend at the time to come drive up there and get me.

6. You’re stuck on an island with plenty of food, a companion, and a relatively stress-free lifestyle. What do you say when the rescue ship comes?
Please take John away from me before I kill him. He's lucky to have survived until you all got here to save us. He wouldn't shut up the whole time we were stranded. If I'm asked one more time to help reenact a scene from Lord of the Rings I will kill him.

7. Which day of the week do you look forward to most?
Currently, Tuesdays. They're my day off. Although I haven't had one in 2 weeks.

8. What’s your favorite place to enjoy the great outdoors?
My back porch? Maybe tubing on the Comal? I'm not a big outdoorsy person.

9. What’s on your “to do” list this summer?
Third Annual Hinchman Olympics, tubing, finding a new job, and keeping the garden alive.

10. Which natural disaster freaks you out the most?
None. I've been through flooding (in the city, never near myself though) and when I was younger in Indiana we actually had to spend a few hours hiding out in tornado position. Maybe earthquakes, but only because they always seem to hit when you're sleeping.

Oyster Bake 2010

Saturday was Oyster Bake! Misty and Gilbert drove down from Dallas to join us. I had bought rain boots earlier in the week since I knew it was going to rain all week and even if it stopped by Saturday, the grounds would be a mud pit. Misty and I stopped at Target to get her a pair. They were pretty much sold out by then, but luckily Misty has tiny kid feet and bought a size 4 in little girls!



This is my ex-coworker Tricia.



She's going to be mad I've put her on the blog. She'll probably send me some sort of message about it tomorrow. Today she complained to me how photogenic I am. She said I even looked good with a burger hanging out of my mouth. You can be the judge for yourself.



These were our working conditions



Here are Misty and Gilbert getting ready to serve beer



and here and me and John



I love working the beer booth because you get to meet interesting people like this guy



I totally want his shirt!

After our shift it was time to eat! John opted for a Frito Pie



and I had the burger



Then it was time for Chicken on a Stick



Next up, Sausage on a Stick



We all took a breather in the volunteer area after this. We took our one and only group picture during which John decided to yell, "everyone grab boobs." Yeah. Awesome. Thanks babe.



When I look at this picture I sing, "Boots in the Mud. Boots in the Mud" to the tune of Pants on the Ground. Don't ask why.



It was almost time for the 3rd shift to start so we all headed over to get our Tater Twisters.





Yum!





Not sure if that's a light sabre or a foil.



The night crew started



and so did the rain



Thankfully it only drizzled for a tiny bit.

When our shift was done it was time to ride our favorite ride!



Becky shot these pictures for us. I love the second one!





You can actually see a blurry me and John over in the right corner



David and Becky headed into the Monkey Maze next



They were out in what seemed like seconds



I think at some point in the night I ate a roasted corn, a chicken fajita taco, a handful of popcorn and bite or two of cotton candy. I love carnival food! Food, friends and great beer always makes for a great Oyster Bake.