4-day weekend GONE!!!

But not wasted. That's the important part. What did I accomplish? Let's see, I washed my car (for real, not cheating at the spray-off car wash), got the front yard raked, cleaned leaves off my side driveway and patio, changed heads and re-tuned my drums, bought a wok, got Kelsey chasing frisbees now instead of just tennis balls and figured out my color printing gremlins to my Epson printer from Photoshop. Oh, I did laundry too as always.

I also said "hi" to my neighbor's kid. That's new. I have some strange neighbors. I can't complain though because all in all, they're good ones. My only gripe is that the one to my right (if you standing on the street facing my house doesn't take care of his yard worth a crap. Not that my place is the botanical garden or anything (and it's not, believe me)but these folks had crap growing that are just plain weeds but they let them get out of hand and let them turn into a messy hedgerow. Last week, a family from down the street I think, worked in my neighbor's back yard and cleaned up all the mess. My neighbor and his kids never came out during all this so I'm not exactly sure what was going on. All I know is that there's a HUGE brush pile in front of both our houses now waiting on the city to come pick it up.

Got an interesting weather day tomorrow - supposed to be around 70 degrees and stormy. There's a front moving though the area that'll mix things up a bit. What a way to start the week huh?

Ah... Friday after Thanksgiving.

Hope you all had a good time with family and friends yesterday. Thanks always to my friends here who make me a part of their family's get-togethers. That's always a good time. The afternoon was fairly warm, around 60, so I went ahead and washed my car. There's only so much you can do with the spray guns at the carwash. You've got to get in there with some elbow grease to get it REALLY clean though. Spent a lot of time on the front bumper where bugs were firmly stuck. A little bug and tar remover later, they were gone!

I chose to refrain from participating in the Black Friday shopping hoopla this year... mainly because there wasn't anything in particular I was needing or wanting. How about that!?! Back a dozen or so years ago when I worked in retail management I used to loathe this day. On your feet for 10-12 hours straight, wolfing down lunch and dinner standing up and having to deal with some rude folks. That's right, even the Christmas shopping spirit isn't enough to keep the worst in people from coming out sometimes.

I stayed in during the morning hours debating on whether or not I want to start raking leaves or not (jury's still out on that) and watching some TV. I got hungry and was too lazy to cook so I needed to venture out. Good Lord, traffic everywhere. Luckily, I live just a few blocks from the busiest road in town. I can normally be at the mall and any type of restaurant that we have here in less than 5 minutes. It was a little slower today but bearable. Ended up going to Burger Thing. Suprisingly, that meal hit the spot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a terrific holiday and get to spend it with family and friends!

Runnin' around.

Last night I checked out the XBOX 360's that I had hear so much about. Console games have come a long way - even from some more recent ones like the original Playstation. Still, there's something to be said about the original Atari 2600. Armed with a 1-button joystick, you pretty much knew how to play any game on the Atari without reading a manual. Now, I have to thumb through a manual to know what all the controls do. You've got left and right versions of triggers, D-pads, joysticks and of course, the diamond-shaped set of four buttons. I AM getting used to the more complex controls though. Still, I typically prefer playing games on the PC instead of a console.

Today was filled with photography for a client's website. I was having to deal with on-and-off sun with the heavy cloud cover we had. I got some useable shots I think but overall, I wish the day had been just a little bit sunnier. I can't really wait though as these were outdoor shots and I needed to get them before the trees were completely devoid of leaves. Got a bit chilly when the wind blew.

Me and a mess of probably the hottest gift of the holiday season this year.

Whew! Made it to Saturday.

Sorry for the lack of posts! I've had a very busy week running around, My days and evening have both been full. Got my tux picked out for the Gala coming up in 2 weeks. Ellen went along with me to make sure I match her dress like I planned. Got a long jacket black tux with a cream vest and bowtie. Cute girl at the tux place but that's another story I'll have to investigate later.

Went to a a social meeting at the country club Thrusday night where I ran into several friends and clients. Had a good time chatting and enjoying the food and drink. I just came home and crashed after that. I was tired.

Oh, a few posts back I mentioned a light meter I was wanting for my photography work. I found what I was looking for on eBay and picked it up for $100 less than what it usually sells for online. It arrived Friday. I'll probably bring my camera along this afternoon and practice with the meter a bit.

There's an Ansel Adams exhibit going on at the Huntsville Museum of Art that I plan on checking out shortly. I need to finish up some laundry and get a shower before I take off. I also need to wash my car but it's cold out. Maybe I can find some hand wash place to clean it as I don't want my car getting scratched up in those places using the twirly brushes.

Talked to Kyle last night. He's enjoying his Hawaii trip immensely. I assured him he wasn't missing anything back here. Check out the cool pictures on his blog. He's been posing several a day.

Grab it, brush it, fluff it all up.

Went to my first ever dog show this weekend over at the racking horse arena in Priceville. Line after line of LUXURY buses and motorhomes crowded the parking area. This wasn't a bunch of folks thowing Rover in the back of the car and toting him to the fair, this was a serious event it seems. I know nothing about the pet show circuit but I'll tell you what, it's alive and well. There were dogs everywhere getting pampered like you wouldn't believe. Brushing, massaging, blow-drying... it was really a spectacle to see. Kyle observed one guy brushing on his dog for 45 minutes STRAIGHT. I was scoping out a spot on the perimeter of the arena I was needing to get a photo in. A friend was showing her dog there and I promised her I'd take a few shots. Suprisingly (or not), I ran into a few people I knew there. They were probably more suprised than me though.

The dog show thing actually happened in the middle of a photo shoot I was doing with some other folks. I had told them beforehand about the show so they took a break while I did my thing there. Beautiful day for being outside for sure. It was in the low to mid-70's and breezy. Just fantastic I tell you. Had some funny moments as I struggled to fold up my oval diffuser panel, the one I fixed last weekend. I folded it up once but didn't have luck after that much to everyone's amusement. (I later did find instructions online on how to do it - a better way than I THOUGHT I had learned before and got it put up)

What a day for football fans. Alabama lost a heartbreaker to LSU, Auburn pulled off a win against Georgia. At the end of that game, they showed the faces of some of the Georgia fans - they were pretty sad I'll tell ya. Good to see the Alabama teams in the mix though even if I'm not a fan of either one. I'm a Tennessee fan back from my days working at Neyland Stadium selling cokes and popcorn as a teenager. They're not doing so hot this season. Sigh.

Church was good this morning after a rough start in warm up. Kyle was WAY off on the Coldplay song we were playing until Jack showed him the key we were playing in and that fixed pretty much everything.

I can sum up my afternoon in 2 words: Nap Laundry

Falling leaves...

Even with the weird weather... mid-80's and breezy, the falling leaves do give away the season. This weekend may be the last weekend for the best leaf colors I'm told. As such, I plan to be out, camera in hand this weekend. I have a few projects lined up so there's a pretty good change I'll have some good shots to show for it.

Band practice this week - after a much needed few weeks off, I'm back behind the drums this Sunday. The long break was nice but I do miss playing a little. It's been probably a month or so since I've had to so it's time to get back into the groove.

On another note, Ellen and I exchanged emails about what dress she would be wearing to the Gala this year so I would have some idea of what tuxedo style I should lean towards. This is really a fun event... not only that but it's for a good cause too. There will be several friends and clients there so I know it'll be a great time. I'll have my small camera with me for any photo ops that will arise (and they will).

Break out the summer clothes again.

The weatherman predicted a high in the mid-80's today here. It's November 8 and I'm having to get out summer clothes again. I'm not complaining though. The humidity's low and the days have been gorgeous.

I was over in Huntsville today around lunchtime and met up with buddy of mine over at Surin's. It was my first time eating there and I wasn't disappointed. 7 pieces of sushi, half a chicken and shrimp fried rice. MMMMMMMM.... Delicious. Their sushi was very good - fresh, nice color and texture. I'll have to keep that place in mind for a dinner destination.

Anyway... I've had trouble sleeping the last two nights. It seems I just lay around and don't really get into a deep sleep. I wonder what's up with that? Despite my perceived lack of sleep, I've made it through the days without getting tired or sleepy which is good, but odd.

The new Harry Potter movie is coming out soon. I've seen and enjoyed all the others so I'm looking forward to this one as well. Any other HP fans out there?

Weekend's done.

I started Saturday by having breakfast with a few guys from church. It was a welcome change from my usual breakfast of oatmeal and orange juice. I went all out and had "Momma's Pancake Breakfast": 3 pancakes, 3 scrambled eggs, 4 slices of bacon and of course, orange juice. That filled me up.

Went on over to the spray car wash to see if I could get by without having to scrub my car clean with a full-on get the bucket and all the car washing crap out type of deal. It worked! I was really surprised at how well the so-called "spot free" rinse worked when I skipped the hand drying stuff.

With that out of the way, I went to work at home fixing this 40" X 60" light reflector thing I broke earlier this week. This is one of those things I actually wore protective glasses and gloves for. This reflector is held open by a 1/2" wide steel hoop that's about a 1/8" thick. Due to stupidity on my part which I won't go into, I broke it. Now I had 2 ends of the band protruding through the stretchy fabric that would normally cover it. Nice. The only way to fix it would be to drill 2 holes in each end and use screws to fasten them together. This is where the glasses and gloves come into play. After a bunch of pulling, squeezing, drilling, bad language, sweat and pinched skin - I got it fixed. I do NOT want to have to do that again.

Ate at JW Steakhouse that night. Looks like things have improved since my last visit, but my food still left something to be desired. My steak was too salty. I guess it was either the marinade was too salty, it was marinated too long, or both. My baked potato was good though.

Kyle headed on over to Applebee's for dessert (yes, our lives here typically involve action around mealtime) while I swung by my house for a minute. I get a text message from Kyle that "S and M want us to take them out tonight". I knew who "S" was, but I wasn't sure who "M" was. By the time I arrived on scene, Kyle was irritated and S & M were heading to a local bar (one I would not be interested in going to) with some other dude. That was just as well though since they were just needing someone to buy their drinks for the night. Anyway, hung out there for awhile before calling it a night.

Today after church and lunch I decided to get out and do a little shopping instead of taking my usual Sunday afternoon nap. I needed a casual winter coat to wear for when it's wet and yucky out. I've got all the other bases covered with one of my other 12 coats/jackets/fleeces (heh). Drove to Huntsville's Jones Valley and hit up Alabama Outdoors where I found a nice Marmot fleece/shell combination I liked. It was on sale too so that made it even nicer. It's one of those 2 piece deals where you can wear each piece by itself (the shell or the fleece liner) or zip them together for nice heavy protection from the elements. I drove around the area looking for photo spots as there are several hills in the vicinity that were thick with colorful trees. Even though I had my camera with me, the light just wasn't right so I didn't bother getting it out. Went over to Parkway Place to look for jeans and some shoes but had no luck.

Back at home, I thawed a bunch of king crab legs out then went over to Kevin and Stacey's where in total we steamed 4 lbs. of legs and 2 lobster tails. There were some other, smaller lobster tails but those tasted ULTRA bland. Yech. I went to eat my tail after steaming it and found it not yet done. Great. Instead of fooling with more steaming, I got out a pan and some olive oil and sauteed both tails. That did the trick.

What a good weekend.

It's uh, gonna be almost 80 today.

Ok, it's the 5th of November and we're gonna hit almost 80 today?!? That's crazy. It'll at least give me a chance to get some fertilizer down in the yard to prep for next year. I like my moss green you know... LOL! I still have this lingering problem with moss in my front yard. Hopefully I can get rid of that crap in the coming year or I'm just going to put sod down and be done with it.

Had the first oil change done on the new car this week in time for a quick trip down to Birmingham. While I was there, I did manage to get lost in the malfunction junction cluster. It's frustrating to not know where you are but I soon saw something I recognized (the airport) and knew how to get home from there. It's time like that I wish I would have sprung for the extra $2K to get the navigation system for the car. As it stands though, I'll probably get one of those Garmin or Magellan portable nav systems so I can use it in my car or in a rental when I travel. Anyone had experience with any of those portable systems? Let me know if you have any suggestions.

While I was in B'ham, I stopped in a camera store and looked at the Sekonic light meter I've been thinking about purchasing. It's pricey, but I've been using a Minolta meter a friend loaned me and it rocks. You see, I typically do most of my shooting in manual mode instead of automatic because the latter can be too much of a hit or miss operation. Using a meter along with manual mode gets you dead-on the settings you need to properly expose a scene. I used the meter I borrowed for my forest and home interior shots earlier this week. It just takes all the guesswork and trial-and-error out. Anyone want to buy it for me?

That's it.

I've decided that I'm carrying too much crap in my pockets on a day-to-day basis. Even right now I have a wallet, memory stick, chap stick, eye drops, cell phone and car keys. Thankfully, I don't have my small camera on me at the moment. I have gotten away from attaching my cellphone to my belt in *most* situations and carrying it in my hand or in a pocket. Trouble is, there's a good chance I'll end up forgetting it somewhere.

At a minimum, I need my wallet. My ID, permits, credit cards and insurance information is in there. I need my keys, obviously. The rest of the stuff I can leave in the car or someplace I can easily get to like my briefcase or camera bag.

What do you carry in your pockets?

A good chunk of the crew of our local Applebee's dressed up for halloween. There were a few still missing from this shot though.