The things that matter {to me}

This one is for you Judi...

I was asked today why I'm on a blog hiatus. I don't know but I started feeling like I was kinda talking to myself but apparently there are people who miss me (YAY!!) so here I am... back in blog land.

First off Alex & I had a great break.  We did a lot and it zoomed right by, although there was less sleeping in then I like but we made it. Alex had a few play dates with Sasha (she works in his class at school), they went to the park & the library while I went to step & sculpt class. Alex & I also went back to Fort Bragg to visit Geoff for his birthday. We took these in Fort Bragg

 

 

 

The 4th was low key this year. Since the boat is in a billion pieces we did not host our annual party this year. Instead the 3 of us had a lazy day and then hosted the family & our friends The Impinks for a BBQ. We ended up just walking across the road to catch the fireworks, surprisigly our seats were not too bad

 

 

Then today we headed back to summer school. Alex was thrilled to go & I was ready for the break from being the 24/7 entertainment coordinator. Not that the break lasts long as it's rent week so I'm up to my eyeballs in work but hey that's the way it goes.

Karen, I owe you an email to update you on the hearing or give me a call if you want 650 245-5928 & we can chat about it :)

Our week in review

 

Week 1 of Alex's school break is over... we were really busy! Starting in the upper left:

Alex & I ventured up to Fort Bragg to see the boat & Geoff.  We spent 2 nights in the "driving house" (aka fifth wheel trailer that is Geoff's current residence during the week). It was a little dicey at first, the trailer is a little more "manish" then I'm into & the boat is definitely not a Alex safe environment but I'm glad that we went!

Friday we went to Great America. This is Alex on the carousel, at least I caught a smile. It was a bit of a hard day as it was HOT & we discovered that Alex is not tall enough to go on most of the roller coasters. Alex was not a happy camper that he could not go on the stuff that he wants to. Next time we will take our bathing suits & go into the water park area, I think he would like that a lot. We'll see.

Check out those water drops...

While visiting Geoff in Fort Bragg, Alex & I went with him to pick up lumber in Eureka. It was a long drive but Alex was such a good boy. This is Alex watching the huge tractor thingy load the stacks on lumber onto the trailer. I was praying for our safe travel back on the 3 hour drive of windy roads through the redwoods.

I don't know what kind of flower this is but I think it's so cool that it has tiny mini flowers in the center.

This is Alex in a roadside attraction on the way to Eureka. Weird little place with a store full of carved bears & such. We high tailed it out of there in a hurry as I'm pretty sure I could hear the banjos playing...

These two on the coastal trail

Wednesday Lisa said she was going to go out to the coastal trail to snap a few pics to test the light for her upcoming shoot I said we'd tag along.  Even though my kid is very much not a photo shoot guy these days we still managed to get a few cute ones:

 

 

Alex always wants to make sure that I am coming along.

 

We all know my issue with photos from the back... I love em, which is a good thing since most of the time my child is more interested in where he could be going rather than stopping to pose.

 

Here Todd is telling Alex to jump in sign language. Lisa was hoping to get a pic of them jumping at the same time... wishful thinking on her part. LOL

 

I perched Alex on a tree branch while Lisa was talking to some guy she knew on the trail. Alex was a little nervous which is evident in his sideways glance.

 

I love this of them running back towards the ocean. The light was crummy so it's pretty blown out but still pretty cool scenery.

 

I know that Todd's eyes are closed but I love Alex's thumbs up here

 

Todd being 6 1/2 loves to make dorky faces when told to smile.

 

Alex bring Alex loves to scowl when Todd is not making dorky faces.  It's practically impossible to get them both looking & smiling, well unless I have my ISO set too low & it's completely blurry & unsalvagable (I have 3 of those!). But overall I like what I got, they are real pics of these 2 very real boys!

Then Thursday I photographed my new loves... they always obey

 

this one had added texture for fun

 

 

In the name of art

I'm sorry but I cannot help myself. Not only have I had the planter in my yard cleared out, I have now spent a healthy amount at Home Depot on flowers. Yes, I planted flowers... me the one who kills everything & has a gardener for a postage stamp sized lawn. I planted & I now photograph almost daily, I even spent last Friday afternoon at my sisters house photographing all kinds of stuff at her house too. LOL

Then today I discovered textures for Photoshop Elements (I have PSE 7). Oh my... this is gonna be expensive, as I am now envisioning having a few gallery wrapped canvas' made once I get something really good. Oh Geoff is not going to be pleased. LOL  But anyhoo, here are a few of my first trys, I know their a little heavy but hey, I'm learning:

 

 

 

 

 

Alright and I will admit that I watered the flowers so that I could get the water drops on them. *hangs head in shame* I am that person! LOL 

Taking time to stop & smell the roses

I've been secretly coveting a macro lense for a few months now. I love looking at the cool macro shots that I see posted and frankly taking pictures of something that doesn't run away or talk back is a really appealing thought sometimes so last weekend I talked Geoff into a little goodie for me. I have read everywhere that this lense is *the* lense to have for macro.

I had to wait all week to really play with it as it was rent week but today Kelly & I went to the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden to play around with our cameras. OMG I am so in love! I know they aren't the greatest but I am really having a good time with this whole macro thing.. see what you think!

 

this is the center of a flower after all of the pedals had fallen off

 

I guess it goes without saying that the roses are amazing there...

 

 

 

 

 

check the wings on the bumble bee.... OMG I was sooooooo thrilled to get that. Me, the bug hater is now stalking the bugs in the gardens. This is going to be very addictive.

I hope he's always happy to see me

Alex now waits outside for me in the afternoon. He sits at a picnic table & he waves as I walk down the breezway to get him. I brought my camera today because I want to get a pic of the waving but instead he gave me the "OMG my mother has the camera again" look.

 

But then he decided that maybe he'd run closer, he looks mad but he was actually really happy

 

Notice the tucked in shirt? He had developed a nervous behavior of twirling his shirt around his fingers. It was starting to interfer with him doing his work so now at school they tuck his shirt in & he walks around with his hands in his pockets. He's too cool these days... at least too cool to wave at his mother when she is holding a camera.

The hearing update

 

Most of last week was spent focused on what Alex can or more truthfully what Alex cannot hear. Tuesday he had a sedated ABR test and the initial reading made it appear that he had a progressive sensorineural hearing loss. This would be bad news. But thankfully after further intepretation of the test it showed that while his conductive loss has gotten worse the sensorineural loss has stayed about the same.  So we are moving forward with his BAHA procedure on July 20. That is a short paragraph that doesn't quite explain all of the drama but that's the start & the end so I'll leave it at that.

The chicklets are coming

 

Remember that movie Dennis The Menace (the one from the early 90's I think?) Where Dennis knocks out the old guy's teeth & the old guy uses Chicklet gum to replace them? Those chicklets remind me of when kids get those first adult teeth that look soooo huge in their mouths.  Anyhoo, after having his front teeth pulled in Sept 2007, Alex's chicklets are finally growing in. One looks pretty good but the other is completely the wrong direction, it's turned totally sideways. YIKES!

Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time trying to get caught up on my assignments for my photography class, Alex was a pretty cooperative subject for a bit but when it came to my focus assisnment which required 2 subjects who could sit perfectly still for a few minutes I had to count on these 2

 

Today I'm off to lots of work appointments. Alex is going to stay here with Geoff (he's home for the weekend).

Didja miss me?

I had a nice little break up at my mom's house. We did a whole lot of laughing & Alex did a whole lot of playing in the water. My sister Anna & I share the love of photography (we even have the exact same camera) so we spent lots of time trying new tricks.

 

Here's Alex & I at the park.

 

This is my mom & Anna.

 

Alex looked like this almost all weekend

 

My mom has one of those giant inflatable water slides, Alex has not been that into it the last couple of times but this time, he was a wild man.

 

Gotta love the big splash!

 

I bought Alex a slip n slide, he thought it was hillarious.

 

I fell in love with this little creature. She's my nephew's "min pin", she's adorable! She's maybe 7 lbs & very snugglie although she & Alex did not get along as Alex really wanted to hold onto her paws.

I have lots more pics but I need to get this post done so I'm gonna stop there. How are all of you doing? I hope everyone is well!

It's up

The boat blog is up. Yah, I know I need another blog to maintain like a hole in the head LOL but anyway we're gonna give it a try. So check it out if you have a minute

www.moriahlee.com

Off to another week of the new normal. Well except this week is short because we're heading off to my mom's on Wednesday for a little family reunion.