More Photography

Belated Happy Mothers Day, and here is what I received from Mehul. He brought this card and flower home from the daycare. The card had a really lovely message and his handprints inside!



DH took this one of the mini Taj Mahal.


I am in an ATC card exchange (well, I was until April). This is all the cards I've sent or received! Pretty pretty.



My first closeup with Manual Focus.


Now he knows to smile for the camera


We have prepped the Family room for painting so we'll be painting the first coat tonight. Here is the plan-

Wed: First Coat. 1st Fan to be assembled.
Thur: Second Coat. 2nd Fan to be assembled.
Fri: FR Fan to be hung, paintings/photos hung on the walls, etc.
Sat: Rods for sheers attached, sheers and curtains hung.

Dang, we were planning to go to the zoo this weekend. Doesn't seem likely. I want to practice my photography and Mehul wants to see the birds. I might have to move the Saturday work to next week.

Fans

I was going to respond in the comments, but then I remembered a little story so I decided to put it here. We have fan outlets, not just light ones, but fan ;) They were a touch costlier (remember, we got the house built so we got to chose what we wanted where). The house is central A/C ofcourse (I don't think there is any new construction in our area that isn't!) but sometimes, you just need the fan. Specially when I run, the AC or the little fan on the treadmill do nothing for me.

On to the story, friends of ours got their house built an year before us. They bought it right when the seller's Market was starting to come down and interest rates were going up. Their builder (different builder than ours) charged them extensively for every little thing they wanted. Their lot backs to 2 rows of trees and they were charged $50K for lot premium where as regular lots are more like $5-10K. It was extortion but they really wanted the privacy. Not much thereof because when we visited them for the first time in winter, the houses behind them were clearly visible. Anyhow, the fan outlets - they were a tad more ($275 for them, $175 for us) than regular light outlet ($225) but P was so frustrated by every little thing costing extra, he got the regular one to save where he could. We could just read the frustration on his face when he was telling us this. They ended up with the correct outlets regardless because when the house was being built, the contractor saw this and thought this was a mistake and put the correct ones. BTW, my knowledge of fan vs. electric outlets is very limited but as I understand it, they put a 2x4" rod in the fan outlet to hang the fan from. That's the only difference and since we're not handy, we just let them do it. Just goes to show how the builders extort money when the market is at its peek. Now the same builders are giving free upgrades and what not. So not fair.

Can I be any more absent minded?

I forgot to bring my work laptop with me. To work. This is right up there with the time when I showed up for work on a holiday.
DH went right back home and brought it for me (we were carpooling and he had the car) but this was pretty stupid. I generally don't take the laptop home with me so in order to not forget to bring it, I keep it with my purse near the kitchen desk or on the stairs where i sit to put my shoes on. Yesterday, we were getting ready to paint the Family room so I removed everything from there and all the Family room stuff is *everywhere*. But it is no excuse.

Anyhow, we bought 2 fans yesterday as well as the paint for Family Room. Name of the shade of paint is 'Ornate gold' or something like that. It's a really pretty shade of mustardy gold. We got these fans - for family room and Master BR.
Hunter 52" Yorkshire at Lowes. The center part has English Bronze finish and the blades are Dark Walnut.

Hunter 52" Georgetown at Lowes. This has one Umber finish with fontanta accents (no idea what that is) and the blades are reversible, Antique Cherry/Bretton Forest. I love this one more.

I know they're very similar in color and style. I can't decide which one goes where. Probably doesn't matter that much. Decisions Decisions.

We have never installed a ceiling fan before, it ought to be an interesting job. I'll post pictures when it's all done and the room is ready.

New Layouts

Hopefully I'll have more time to blog and scrap from Monday. I've been busy at work. Our project is being launched on monday. I started working at 6 this morning and am still fixing up some things. I am relatively new to this project and filling someone else's shoes while he's on vacation. Not fun to say the least. Hopefully things will be better from monday. I have to work a couple of hours tomorrow as well.

On to the good stuff, here are a few LOs I managed to create-

A two pager! Can you imagine how it will look in a photobook!


Credits:

Credits:
Following is by Lori Wiley of Diamante Designs. Available at Scraptastics and SBB.
Background from Essential Classics Vol 2 Set 5
Swish Brushes
Wrap Brushes

Frames by Welli Designs (In memory of Miles kit)
Flower made of flowers by Tiff Brady (In memory of Miles kit)


Credits:
Credits:
Everything except the frames is by Lori Wiley of Diamante Designs. Available at SBB and Scraptastics.

Rainbow of Color kit
Swish Brushes
Schones Blumen III
Tye Dye Knots
Jornaling paper from Grandmas Attic kit

and Quad Frames freebie by Misty Cato.


Credits:
Following is from Lori Wiley at Scraptastics.
Beautiful Day Kit
Swish Brushes
Delicate Brushes

From Lisa Whitney at Scrapartist
White Stitching

Well, have a great weekend!

Amateur Photography

Taken with my brand spankin new Canon Rebel XT. Here are some photos taken very early in the learning process. Long ways to go ...



Mommy, let's go outside..


Some bloomage.


My sister gave me this pretty jewelery box when I got married


A milk moustache. Charming.


My companion when I run..


I gave this doggie to DH when he was coming to the US after we were engaged. Yes, we still have it in a (relatively) good condition. Mehul plays with it.


And a WIP Update.

Second Year Book

Busy at work. No time to play. Hrmphhh.

I got my book from Shutterfly. It looks AWESOME except one glitch. Where the spine meets the front and back covers, there is a 1/4 cm thick white line that shouldn't be there. I think I did my spine correctly, so I'm going to call the today and ask for a reprint.

And I ordered the second book from Shutterfly. They gave me 20 pages free (was a promotion with the first book) This book has a total of 38 pages plus covers. Looks AWESOME! I liked the idea of adding full size pictures besides the LOs. So I added them every other page, in B&W so they go with the LOs nicely. DH likes this one better :) Nothing matches in this book, it's all random LOs from his second year!

Here are the front and back covers -


Click to view the entire book. *link fixed*

Took me around 3 hours last night to arrange/upload everything. Needless to say, I barely watched the 2 hour Grey's Anatomy last night. I don't like the 'Addison goes off to open a practice' idea. I loved the interaction between McDreamy, Meredith and her, and also her encounters with The Nazzi, Izzy, and Alex. Sigh. I hope the pilot fails and she comes back. How horrible of me. *snicker* Hey, this is about the ONLY show I watch these days with any interest.

April Review

1. Run the 5K Race Done! Run time was 39:12 (not 39:20 as incorrectly noted before)
2. Increase run to 6 Miles within 80 minutes. Didn't even run 6 miles this month. Got seriously side tracked.
3. Complete and send March and April ATCs (March is way overdue!) Damn! Still have to send March and April.
4. Sow the remaining seeds. Done
5. On the Angel of Love, complete beading on Page 3. No real progress on this one.
6. *Try* to complete stitching on Page 3. Nope
7. Take Mehul to the Train park.Done

Well, I didn't do very well on the goals. I am on a reading kick right now so everything else has fallen off track. I managed to read 6 books this month(!) and re-read 1. I'm sure it is a phase but I'm really enjoying it so I don't plan on restricting myself. I also managed to send Mehul's birthday scrapbook for printing, plant the seedlings in the backyard, and .I'll try not to make too many goals this time :)

May Goals

1. Increase run to 5 Miles within 80 minutes (more reasonable goal).
2. Run atleast 30 miles in May.
3. Complete and send ATCs.
4. Water the herb garden as needed. (not much of a garden, it's just a long, narrow row of herbs in the backyard.)