It's Been A While

To be honest, this blog thing isn't really working for me so well. It doesn't exactly fit in to the rest of my day. When I'm done with work, I usually just check MySpace and e-mail, and then either grab a quick shower (my family is laughing at me for the 'quick shower') or head right out the door to hang out with David for a couple of hours. By the time I get back, I just feel like there are so many other things that I should be doing - Washing/putting away laundry, vacuuming, cleaning off my desk...

Work has picked up for me quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, also. I'm glad for it, tho. I definitely need the money; especially since I owe the stupid IRS $1300!!!! How ridiculous is that? And for no other reason than the fact that I work at home...BULLSHIT!!

Anyway, I'm gonna give this a little longer. I don't want to quit it so soon after I started. Maybe I need to make a few changes in the 'Time Management' department. I dunno. Hopefully it won't be so long before I post next time. We'll see how it goes...

Dehart's Going Away Party

Last weekend was Dehart's Going Away Party. He joined the Air Force and leaves on March 31 (I think). Anyway, we couldn't let him leave town without a party...So we had one!! Janie and Zeeshan even came up, and we haven't ALL partied together since...I don't even know. It's been a while. Boys will be boys and the night had an interesting ending, but it was a blast anyway.

Good Luck Dehart!!

This is pretty much what controls most of my day....I feel like if it had a hip, I'd be attached to it!! I was just thinking earlier about what my job would be like if it were like everyone thinks it is (hopefully that makes sense). Most people find out I work at home and suddenly roll their eyes and huff about how 'That doesn't count. You work at home.'

That's a REALLY long rant, so I won't subject you to it. But trust me, my job DOES count, and I still have to work for my money just like everyone else.

Today is Mommy Dukes' birthday.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY DUKES!!!

OMG - So, I lost my ring this weekend. The first one my sister gave me about four years ago that I've been wearing ever since. I woke up on Sunday after the party we went to Saturday night, and it was gone! I was soooo upset....I just kept thinking about it! I had an idea of where I probably lost it. I just kept praying and praying, "Please let me ring be there! Oh, please!!"

David took me to look for it today. We had to turn around because we missed the spot, but as SOON as we pulled up, we both saw it at the same time. We didn't even have to look. It was just laying there on the ground shining right in our eyes! YAAAAAAAAAAY!!! And then all I could think was, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"

I was just so happy about it that I had to put it in here!!! :-) :-) :-)

And I think that's all, folks! Gonna go hang out with the family for a little bit, and then get rested up for tomorrow - Got LOTS of work. I'll be posting again as soon as I get a chance, so hopefully there will be more new stuff here soon.

Annnnnd.....These are from this past Saturday night. It started out pretty much like Friday - Went to a party and we weren't really diggin it, so we left. This time though, we ended up at Hard Times. The guys ended up getting a pool table (hence the first picture of David and Richard), while I had a beer with Dodge, who I ran into at the bar (the second picture). Only thing about that is the bar closes at 2 AM, and we weren't ready to go back home. Carmen walked in right as we were leaving so we took her with us, too. We ended up back at the party LOL (the last two pictures...David and I and Me and Carmen)!!


Anyway, we had a pretty good time....Until the end, anyway. Too much drama for me, but we'll let that go for the sake of still being able to enjoy the memory of the rest of the night.

With the Guys

So these are from this past Friday night. We had planned to go to a party and were on our way there when I took the first one (it looked kinda crazy to me...I think it was the beers I had before we left)! I kinda dig it.

Buuuut....The party ended up not being so great. We left about 10 minutes after we got there!! LOL We ended up at McDonald's and the bowling alley. Too bad the bowling alley was closing in 20 minutes!!! The guys played games though (go figure) and I figured I'd take a couple of pictures.

'Scrappy'

Meet Scrappy - My cuddle buddy, leg warmer, bodyguard, riding companion and quite possibly one of the coolest, most loyal friends you could ever want!! This is my FAVORITE picture of him. It's also the one that is in the Bissell Pet Photo Contest for this voting period. You can go to Scrappy's photo directly here: http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47128&Pet=2161 or stop by Bissell's site to vote on OTHER photos at the OTHER site below (but hey, you heard about it here first, right): http://www.bissell.com/Vote_on_Photos.aspx
Voting for Scrappy's photo ends on March 11. I have entered one for the next period also, though, so be sure to check back.

I am 99.9% certain that you'll be seeing a LOT more of his cute little face on this blog, so I sure do hope you think it's as adorable as I do!! :P

Can't Upload Photos Tonight...

I wasn't technically 'tagged', but since I can't upload any photos tonight anyway (something going on with the site) and I came across this, I'm gonna go ahead with it...


Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating).
Find page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next three sentences.
Tag 5 people.

The 'nearest' book happened to be an entire bookshelf, so I just picked my favorite: "Message From 'Nam"

'She cooked for him at night when she got home from work, or sometimes he met her in the city and they went out for dinner. And she was crazy about her job at the paper. They gave her interesting stories to do, and sometimes she just stood there and read the Teletypes, feeling as though she had a finger on the pulse of the world.'

Don't really have anyone to 'tag' I don't think...But if you come across this, feel free!

Laylah

This is Laylah - Janie and Zeeshan's little girl!! I don't get to see her as often as I'd like, so I try to always get pictures. She was feeling pretty sleepy in the first one (right before Mommy left with the girls to go out a couple of weeks ago), but she was wide awake the next morning (when Mommy had a hangover and needed some sleep)!

It's pretty hard to believe she's almost a year old...And she's starting to walk!! She looks more and more like Janie every day, and I'm putting money on it that she'll end up being a lot like her, too!! Wonder who her accomplice will be? :P

Janie's Birthday

So....I didn't take either one of these. The first one is Shai, Janie and I at the end of the night on Janie's birthday (2/2/08) and the second one is Janie with her salt shaker (see below). I've kinda decided to make this blog a little more personal than just posting photos - I wanna take it a step further than just being a 'photography' blog and actually make it about the photos AND the photographer (ME, silly!!!), which I think is just genius since I only have to have ONE blog instead of a personal and a photography.

Anyway, these are from Janie's 24th birthday. Janie and I have been friends for about the last 6 or 7 years. We have had some of the craziest times together!!! Her birthday was the first time I had gotten to go out with her since Laylah was born, so I definitely tried to make sure we had a good time. Both of these were taken at the end of the night. For as many as we had that night, I think we came out looking pretty damn good! And though none of us have any idea how, Janie ended up with a salt shaker from the club. I had a rose that someone gave me in the bar, but I splattered it all over the sidewalk on the way to the car. (Note to self: Wedges + Intoxication=Disaster)
Ya know...I got a t-shirt from the Captain Morgan girls that night, too, but Shai and I are currently in the middle of a custody battle over that little guy!!

In my first post last week, I was talking about how I DEFINITELY did not plan on spending this past weekend watching the guys play games. Literally two minutes after I posted that, I got a message from Janie letting me know that the girls were going out again!! YAY!!!!

We had TONS of fun, and while there are pictures, I'm waiting to get them from Janie and Saima. I'll post them when I do.

'Doodle'

This is Doodle (AKA 'Cuddle Bug'). I've posted this photo before, but this is the second one that I entered in Bissell's Pet Photo Contest, which the voting opened on today. So....If you happen across this anytime between March 4 and March 11, stop by Bissell's site and vote (http://www.bissell.com/Voting_Period_9.aspx).

If you decide to, you can go directly to Doodle's photo and vote on it there (http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47118&Pet=1748).

Mexico

It was around this time of year three years ago that Mom and I took a trip to Texas. We drove (well Mom drove and I rode) for 32 hours straight. It was wild though because when we got there, we couldn't go to sleep. I guess after being in the car for so long, we needed to just unwind for a bit. We ordered a pizza, and then finally went to bed about 2 or 3 hours later.

I was thrilled to no end to know that we would be so close to Mexico (I think it was about 100 miles or so)!! I asked her just about every day if we could go...and then one day WE DID!!!

We found "Nowhere" on the way. I'm not kidding - There was literally nothing but fields and mountains in the distance for miles and miles and miles. We joked about it while we were riding along that this must be what people were talking about when they say that something 'came out of nowhere.'

We stopped at a gas station just before we crossed the border at Del Rio and learned something kind of interesting from the cashier. In Texas, as long as a minor is with his/her parent or guardian, they are allowed to consume alcohol. And not just at home, but even in bars!! I was 18 at the time and though it should have been kind of cool, what the hell did I care? I was going to Mexico...I was gonna grab a beer when I got there, anyway!

I LOVED Mexico!! When we crossed the border, we went right into a small town called Cuidad Acuna (I hope I'm spelling that right). The streets were pretty much what you'd expect - Dusty. There were kids running all over the place kicking soccer balls and playing tag in the alleys. And every time I reached a new store front, there was someone holding the door open for me "Come in Senorita!!" We shopped around for a little while, mostly just to check out all of the different stores. I ended up with my favorite Harley t-shirt, a couple bottles of tequila (the kind with the worm in the bottom), some cool bracelets and a cowboy hat! LOL I don't even think we spent more than 10-15 dollars on that stuff.

We went to a bar called the 'Corona Club'. There was one table of what were pretty obviously tourists and the rest were what I'm guessing were locals. The bartender was quick to ask what we wanted, and there was a man with a shoe-shining kit offering up his services. I ordered a Corona and Mommy Dukes, being the responsible mom that she is, ordered a Pepsi. I tried to take our picture at the bar, but it didn't turn out great. I guess the bartender saw that I was about to try again and offered to take the picture for us. I'm glad he did, though - I really like that picture!

I was about 1/2 way through my first beer when some people starting coming in...One of them a really loud people!! It was the loud one (go figure) that spoke up to ask mom if she was married. She said yes of course, and then he turned his attention my way. It didn't take long for one of them to notice my eyes. It was kind of the same reaction I get here. Most people just want to see. But there was one guy who moved away...Quick...All the way to the other side of the bar. I was kind of offended at first, but then I thought of the woman who thought I was 'possessed' when I worked at Food Lion, so I brushed it off. Some people are crazy!!

So Mom and I were left talking to the loud one and his friend, Edgar (I can't remember the 'loud one's name, but I know it was hard to pronounce!!). They were pretty freakin' hilarious - Kept us laughing pretty much the entire time!! We found out that Edgar and his family owned one of the largest ranches in Mexico and that the 'loud one' had actually been a professional bull-rider in Mexico, as well as America. Somewhere around that time, the man with the shoe-shining kit came by for the second time, and even though his shoes looked brand new, the loud one indulged the man and had his shoes shined. I thought about that for a second and found it kinda cool. I mean, this guy didn't need his shoes shined. He let the man do it so that he could make some money. I dig it...

There was a beautiful girl that came in just as we were about to leave. They showed her my eyes (I'm so used to this), and she was so sweet, complimenting not only the color of my eyes, but the shape. Made me feel a whole lot better about that man that moved away from me so quickly at the bar!! We thanked the loud one for my beer and mom's soda and said goodbye to Edgar. I hated to leave - I would have stayed a LOT longer if I could have.

I'm not sure why Mexico had such an impact on me. Maybe it was the way the kids played in the street. Maybe it was the way they all greeted us at the front of every store. Maybe it was the old Mexican woman selling Jesus Christ necklaces on the bridge over the Rio Grande....I dunno. I'm not sure what it was, but Cuidad Acuna has stayed with me. I would love to go back there one day....I WILL go back there one day.

~Just as a side note: Mom and I have been going back and forth about the 'Copyright' on the bottom of some of my photos. I put the year that I actually placed the copyright on the image. Mom thinks I should put the year that I took the photo. So, the photo up top was taken in Mexico in 2005. I put '08 because that's the year I actually put my name on that photo. She thinks it should say '05. Any opinions?~

This is what I saw a LOT of this weekend. All the guys were over Friday and Saturday night and then after football on Sunday...That means a whole lot of games. And not exactly the fun kinda games, like the ones that I like, but the very, very BOY games (And I don't mean girls CAN'T play. It's just that this girl is no good at it, so she doesn't even try anymore.) Ya know the ones - Madden, Halo, Call of Duty...

All in all, I don't mind too much, really. The guys generally keep me laughing. I do kinda stick out like the sore thumb, though. The only taco at the sausage fest....
I'm used to it and I kinda actually dig it most of the time. But next weekend, I can almost promise you won't see me hanging out with the guys while they 'game.' I've had enough weekends of that for a little while.

Ideally, I'd like to just set out driving and see where I end up. And hopefully there will be some cool things to take pictures of along the way...Or when I get there. Either is fine, really. Always seems like a good idea until the weekend actually gets here and other things come up. Just gonna play it by ear and hope for the best I suppose.

I did take lots of pictures this weekend. Most of them were football pictures, though. The guys play every Sunday and have for about the past two years or so. I had gone out to take some pictures for them a couple of times before and they've been bugging me lately to come back out, so I gave in this Sunday. I ended up shooting about three rolls of film, so we'll see how those turn out. I'm betting there are some pretty good shots in there. I'll keep my fingers crossed and I'll post some when I get them.

The plan is to add at least three new posts this week (and not individual posts since I usually add more than one at a time, but three different days of posting). I'm also hoping to be entering a new photo in the Bissell Pet Photo Contest this week, so I'll be posting when I do that, as well.

Here's to a great week!!

Weekends

As much as I would like to, I don't think that I'll be doing too much blogging on the weekends. Since I work from home on the computer and have to stare at it all day long during the week, I spend as little time as possible on this thing during the weekends. Today's a bit of an exception, but not too much really. I've vacuumed everywhere, dusted, picked up dishes and laundry and just overall been busy for most of the day, so I decided to give myself a small break and post a few photos.

These are just a few that I took while I was having a few beers with the guys (while they were playing Madden....Go figure!!). Madden is much more tolerable for me after a few beers, so when it's game night for the guys, I sit back and drink a few and find something else to do - Like take random pictures. I buy a canvas and paint sometimes, too. That can be a lot of fun. Never know what you might end up with when you have a canvas, some paint and brushes and few bottles of Miller Lite!

Here's to a good weekend (Glug, glug)!!