Kinda disappointed...

A new pizza place opened up near the kids bus stop. The week they opened, Mike had monday off, so we decided to check it out. With all the balloons and grand opening signs, we were suprised to see the closed sign on the door. Apparently they had thier grand opening that Sunday, but are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Not sure why the balloons and stuff were still up, but whatever....

So today, I decided to make pizza for lunch after church. As we drove past, I had a flash of inspiration, and we stopped in. The sign said open at noon, and it was 12:45. Now, I know that making pizza takes a while, so I was willing to hang out for an hour or so, until the owner said that the oven hadn't been turned on yet, and it may take up to 2 hours before the pizza was ready. WHAT? So we chose hot dogs for the kids, and I picked thier Sunday Special, a grilled chicken sandwich.

Got home, and the kids food was good apparently, because it was gone in less than 2 minutes. My sandwich, however, had almost no flavor. I had to fix it up with my own special ingredients. We'll have to try the pizza one day, hopefully it will be a better experience than the past two we have had.

On another note, I brought my camera with me to church today, and was able to take some pics. I hope they turn out ok!!

GAS= Gear Acquisition Syndrom

This horrible disease is common with most hobbies. Take up scrapbooking? You MUST have all the gadgets and doodads required to perfect your albums. How about painting? There are thousands of paintbrushes and canvases and paints out there, and you have to have them all!!

The problem with some of these hobbies is that they can be expensive. Take photography, for instance. Even if you are digital, well, especially if you are digital, prices for a camera can range from hundreds to thousands.

For us "analog" photographers, you really need to be in the right place at the right time in order to even discover the gear you prefer to use. I mean, I have been really lucky to get the items I have in my possession. I mean, look at what I have:

1. Asahi Pentax K1000...............with 2 lenses, flash, and a decent case, acquired when my in-laws split.
2. Kodak Retinette IA.................German engineered, hung in my parents closet for as long as I can remember. Unusable, shutter is stuck. VERY hard to find someone I would trust to repair it. Came with light meter, flash cube and fitted hard case.
3. Canon AE-1...............................also with 2 lenses and a case with lots of storage. This is the one my instructor found for me. Battery issues-one battery lasts only one roll of film. Not very economical.
4. Mamiya/Sekor 528TL............This one I was very lucky to get a deal on. Original price: $125. Markdown from great thrift store clerk: $25. Has 3 lenses (technically--don't ask...well, you can if you want), flash, and really bad case. Not sure how well it works yet, still have a roll of film in the back. Processing coming soon.
5. Yashica FR II...........................My latest and greatest. Given to me by a friend who owns a self-storage facility. Left over from a renter, been sitting in a box for years. Comes with 3 lenses (more coming soon, I hear), flash bar, automatic winder, and really, really nice case.

To summarize, I have, in my possession: five cameras, five cases, four flashes, ten lenses (maybe more), automatic winder, and an external light meter (the other cameras have an internal one)

That isn't counting my 2 digital cameras-one of which the screen is broken, the cases for those, and the extra couple of useless camera bags that I have saved from destruction or the trash heap and cannot bring myself to get rid of.

And I am always on the lookout for more. And more, and more. I have a bad case of GAS... LOL!

PS- I did not take into account my darkroom items. Enlarger, frame, trays, chemicals and chemical containers, safety light, film canister, clock, lenses, and film holders. I still need a timer and tongs.

It really sucks when...

You are up to your elbows in soapy dishwater, and you look out the kitchen window, and you see two nice, BIG elk in your backyard. Then, all you can find is your digital camera, and you forget you are in your slippers, and you run out the door. Then your feet fall off, because you stepped in a nice pile of snow, and the elks kinda mosey off while you are hopping around cursing the snow, and the rain that started coming down.
Oh, then you get your snow boots on, and find the other camera, but then realize that you forgot your plastic to keep the camera safe and dry. So now, you're running in the snow and rain, with your cameras under your jacket, trying desperately to find these big, beautiful elk, just so you can take a picture, when you realize that they are gone. Gone. GONE. And you missed the shot...

Photography

As some of you may know, I love photography. A lot. So, I was messing around here on blogger--when I should have been doing homework--and looking at random blogs. While the photography ones interested me, it took forever for some of the pics to load. Which is a bummer, and why I don't post very many of my pics on here....Wait, have I posted any photos on here? I can't remember. How horrible.
See, my thinking is that if I get/am good enough, I could have an art show. But if all these pictures of mine are online for all to see, who's going to want to go to a gallery to see them? But then it's a kinda catch-22, because if I don't get my works out there, when someone sees "Photographs by Beth H." they're going to think "Who??" instead of "Oh, yeah! I've seen her work online!"
And that is my ultimate goal. While taking pics of kids and weddings is fun, it's work, not art. And I want to be an artist.
So I might decide to put one or two of my pictures on here eventually, but if you want to see how good I really am, you're going to have to wait for that gallery to find me and make me famous...

Something I want to do

Mom always said she wanted to volunteer in a hospital maternity ward, where she could cuddle newborns and give advice to new moms. The closest she ever got to that was working the front desk at a local hospital.
I want to start that. I want to do that. For Mom. Grandma D Ministries.

Snow Daze

Classic play on words. Been around forever. And I feel no shame at stealing it for my use. Except, it's not quite accurate, because while town has been overrun by the white fluffy stuff, our little home on the outskirts has become waterlogged. Nothin' but rain, rain, rain over here.
So it's very hard for me to fathom the reasoning behind the superintendent's desire to call a snow day. But my husband says it is definitely worse in town, so I will take his word for it. It would be kinda rude for me to assume that Mr. Superintendent has a desire to make me lose my mind.
Although I think that is what the kids are trying to do. We would be playing outside in the snow, IF THERE WAS SNOW!! We would be playing a game, if they decided to pick up the mess in their room, and we would be watching a movie, if they didn't get up and leave five minutes after I put it in.
On an up note, I joined a new website<<<<----- see the link on the side. Free books to review is always a good thing.

Yet Again I Shirk My Duties....

So much for getting on here more!
I was cruising Blogs today, and I had a thought... Does anyone really read me? I mean, read my blog? I have not told family I am on here, and only a few friends. So what can I do to get my name out there? How do I make myself appealing to the masses?
It is almost every person's desire to be known. To be recognised, famous, etc. Why should I be any different. I want that. I want my name to be written down in the history books. But more importantly, I want my Mom's life to be known. It's like that song, by Jamie O'Neal, Somebody's Hero. Neither Mom nor I will actually make it in the annals of Motherhood, except for our own children, but that would be a wonderful accomplishment.
I would love to tell Mom's story. Write it all down, what she went through, what she suffered, Who she worshiped, and what she gained happiness from. Would I be able to do her justice? And if I am going to start this journey, I need all the help I can get from Dad, the Aunties, and my Uncle. Would I be able to make something they approve of?
Can I get Mom's story told without deviating? Will my writings be fact or fiction? Can I keep my heart out of the way and tell everything as she would have wanted me to?
I worry that if I do start a project such as this, I will fail supremely. Already in my life, I have failed Mom. And although I sought her forgiveness, and it was freely given, my heart hurts for the fact that I could not prove myself worthy of that forgiveness before she left. My only comfort is that she is watching me now, and I like to think that she approves of my life right now.
I have so many unanswered questions in my life. So many things I don't know if I will ever figure them out. But I plug along, for the sake of my children, my family, and my sanity.

The New Year

Wow, we are dull. This was my New Years Eve night:

11:30 p.m.- We finished watching Inglorious Bastards **not my favorite, but OK** and I got in the shower.
11:50 p.m.- PJs on and in bed. "turn it to channel 5, hon, lets see what's on." Nothing, so he goes back to the demolition derby show.
11:58 p.m.- Demolition derby over, back to channel 5.
12:00 a.m.- "Happy New Year's Babe" kiss, kiss. Roll over... and he's snoring already....

I slowed down my drinking over the last year, for 2 reasons. One, drinking doesn't make me happy, it makes me tired. I would rather stay awake at a bar...And two, I avoid vomiting as much as I can in everyday life, why would I want to make myself so sick I can't avoid it??

So, I was sober, my husband had a beer or two, and that was the extent of our partying. Fun stuff.

And then, we both slept through the alarm this morning... Whoops! How lame are we??