My Camera May Just Be Smarter Than Me

A friend of mine called me earlier in the summer and inquired if I would be interested in taking a photography class.

Absolutely!

I have owned my precious Nikon for over a year and I must admit that I rarely shoot unless I am in the auto mode.

You can pick your jaw up off the floor.

And stop rolling your eyes.

I know it is really unconscionable to think I have a nice SLR camera and I am not taking full advantage of all it has to offer.

I know about white balance.

I have read about apertures.

I have heard about ISO's.

But I don't get it.

So I signed up for an intro class.

And after my second class last night I am thrilled to report that I STILL DON'T GET IT!!!

I took great notes.

I listened intently.

I reviewed what I learned on the way home.

Then I spent the day at the pool with the kiddos and my Nikon.

I started thinking about white balance.

And apertures.

And ISO's.

By the time I figured out what I wanted my settings to be...the moment was lost.

And most of my photos were of the splashes left behind when my more than frustrated kids swam away from me.

At one point...Cole had a mask and snorkel on.

He looked adorable.

It was THE perfect moment.

It was taking me so long to make a decision the mask started to fog up.

And Cole took it off, gasping for breath.

Really?

Was it too much to ask for him to hold his breath, short of turning blue, so I could get the perfect shot?

Hopefully my next class will address that.

Just Peachy!

A friend dropped off a few bags of peaches the other day.

Fresh peaches.

Delicious peaches.

Over 75 peaches.

What's a girl to do with so many peaches?

Make stuff.

And so I did.

I decided to share with you one of my favorite new found recipes.

It is beyond delish.

Your taste buds will thank you.

And beg for more.

What is this recipe you ask?

Peach Salsa.

Now before you go sticking your nose up and saying yuck...try it.

You will thank me.

Again.

And again.

You will need the following ingredients for your salsa.

2 cups of chopped Fresh Peaches

1/4 cup of chopped red onion

1/4 cup of chopped red pepper

1 jalapeno pepper chopped and seeded

Arrange all your ingredients in a bowl so it looks pretty enough to photograph.

Then you will add 2 teaspoons of lime juice and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Stir.

Hello lover.

Cover and chill.

The only thing that would make this better is fresh cilantro.

Which I intend to add later.

If I have any left.

You might as well double or triple this recipe.

You are going to kick yourself if you don't.

Not that I would know anything about that.

Happy eating.

Prayers for Stellan

Today is Monday.

Monday for me usually means a big, fat, Not Me Monday post.

Those posts are hosted by MckMama.

Her little boy, Stellan, is very sick today.

Very, very sick.

You can read about him here.

And here.

Instead of posting...I will be praying.

He really needs prayers.

Won't you help me say a few?

Thanks.

Forever

When I think of my own wedding I have wonderful memories.

But hey it was MY wedding.

I hardly think my guests remember the color of my bridesmaids dresses.

Or the flavor of the cake that was served at the reception.

I am not sure I remember the flavor.

One thing is for sure.

The guests at this wedding will never forget it.

And those friends who didn't attend are kicking themselves for not replying.

Enjoy!

Overheard

Me: "Cole, you need to pick up these toys and put them back in your room."

Cole: "You've got to be kidding me!"

...........................................................................

Nana:"Those Charlie horses really messed up the grass in my front yard."

Me: "Really? How do leg cramps cause issues for your grass?"

Nana: "My legs are fine, but my grass has dead spots from all those Charlie horses the roofers had laying around."

Me: "Multiple roofers were thrashing around on your grass from leg cramps?"

Nana:"No silly they put boards on their Charlie horses"

Me: "Boards? I haven't heard that one. I was always told you need to eat more bananas."

Nana: "Okay...am I not using the right word again?"

Me: "I think the word you were looking for is Saw horses."

Nana:"Yeah...that too!"

................................................................................................

Claire: "Could you take me out to the country one day and teach me how to drive?"

Me:"Um... You have six years before you will be driving."

Claire:"Well, I need to start practicing."

...................................................................................................

Chase: "May I mow the grass? It looks like it needs cutting."

Me: " You are my favorite."

Note that all my children are my favorite, but at that very moment...Chase was.

It Is Possible To Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

If you follow me on Twitter then you know I have been taking a continuing education class this week.

Effective Teacher Training to be exact.

All. week.

All. day.

Every. day.

I will admit that I was not looking forward to it.

I envisioned a little old lady standing at the front of the room reading to me from a text book.

With those glasses on the end of her nose.

All. day.

Every. day.

Thank goodness I am not good at the envisioning.

I have the most amazing teacher.

A. maz. ing.

In three days, I have not seen her look at a note.

She hasn't read to me.

Or put me to sleep.

She knows her stuff.

And she is quite entertaining.

I even find myself disappointed we have to break for lunch.

Can you imagine me not wanting to eat?

I know...me either...but try to imagine it.

Now I am going to let you in on a little secret.

Shhhh.

Come closer.

I have learned a lot about myself this week.

A. lot.

I am not going to lie to you...it ain't all good.

I have been blaming my kids for most of what is wrong around our home.

Imagine my surprise when lo and behold I figured out it was mostly me.

Moi.

So I came home Monday and regrouped.

Reevaluated.

And applied what I learned that day.

I can not begin to tell you the difference it made.

Life changing even.

In three short days, my kids are behaving differently because I am.

I have not told them of the changes.

But I am quite certain they are aware of them.

They have to be.

I just wish I had been given this information 13 years ago.

You know back when Chase was born and I was given the
Everything-You-Ever-Wanted-to-Know-About-Motherhood Manual.

You got one....right?

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog and see what she and every one else have NOT been doing this week.

I did not just spend another long weekend Internetless.

That would be ridiculous.

And unacceptable.

I did not tell Suddenlink that a divorce was imminent.

I certainly did not offer them one of my kidneys final chance to make our relationship work.

They did not send someone over to find that my cable modem needed to be replaced.

I did not utter the words, " Are you freakin' kidding me? The modem?"

Because I had never asked if that could be the problem.

Ever.

And definitely not five times.

I am not over-my-keyboard happy that when I click on the Internet...well...I actually get on the Internet.

What a concept!

My husband did not bring home a label maker from work.

He did not need it for a work related project.

I did not squeal with delight when I saw it.

Nope, not I.

Because labels do nothing for me.

I don't get all kinds of worked up over labels and color coding and alphabetizing.

And I would never get so into the making of said labels that I wouldn't notice Cole sleep walking down the hall.

And if Cole happened to sleep walk, which he clearly did not, he most certainly would not have peed a little on his freshly laundered sheets.

And no pee pee would have dribbled on the hard wood floor.

Not in his bedroom.

Or the hall way.

Or the family room.

Or the kitchen.

And he definitely would not have sleep walked his way into the half bath only to
stand in front of the toilet, eyes closed, pants up and pee all over the closed seat.

Thank goodness that DID NOT happen because that would have been quite the mess.

And I was tired and did not have hours to spend washing sheets and pajamas and scrubbing floors.

What about you?

What haven't you done this week?

Join me at MckMama's Place where you can 'fess up!

A Dirty Job

I may or may not have mentioned that I do a lot of laundry.

I may or may not have whined about it.

Do you blame me?

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not spend another weekend on a baseball field.

Nope, not me.

And certainly not my July 4th weekend.

That would be ridiculous.

The husband and I did not sit on opposite sides of the field.

Not us.

Chad never yells too loud at ballgames.

He is not a bleacher coach.

Which explains why he is not hoarse this morning.

My kids did not eat so many ice pops that they may never come down from the sugar high.

Cole did not entertain the crowd with his rendition of "Low".

And by entertaining, I do not mean singing with choreographed dance moves.

Claire did not hide from embarrassment.

Because she was certainly not the one that taught it to him.

Not her.

I am not just a tad bit excited that ball season is over.

I am not ready to finally get my summer started.

Now it is your turn...what haven't you done this week?

Moments in Left Field

Happy 4th of July friends!

In celebration of the 4th and because my Internet and I kissed, made up, and are now back together... I am posting today.

This year was Cole's first t-ball season.

He was so excited to play.

He talked about it constantly.

Then we started practicing.

And the excitement dwindled a bit.

Our first game was on the hottest day of the year.

More dwindling.

Cole was in left field.

Literally.

I took 172 "action" shots.

Here is a sampling:

Action...right?

Sitting.

Standing backwards.

Picking weeds.

Picking his nose.

Picking his seat.

Standing with his glove on his head.

Yelling to me, "Mom I am swwwweaattiinngg!"

Yelling again, "Is it ovvveeerrr?"

And then the shot I didn't get.

He ran off the field, in the middle of the game, to tell me he was hot and he was pretty sure it was time for his Gatorade break.

Those were the longest 10 baseball games I have ever endured.

Then Cole got a trophy.

His first.

And he exclaimed his excitement for next season.

I. can't. wait.

Dripping With Sugar

I am typing feverishly.

In hopes I can finish this before my Internet connection goes out again.

I called Suddenlink for the 1,975 time this month with my usual, "My Internet is out."

I didn't even call the Supervisor.

I wanted my call to be recorded.

I wanted to be all mad and pissy.

Because of course... I was.

I was just waiting to give it to the person that answered my call.

They answered.

I choked.

I decided to be nice and polite with a hint of Iamnotgoingtotakeitanymore.

Guess what?

Sometimes it pays to be nice.

I am back online.

And I got a credit on my account.

Who says nice girls finish last?