Blog away...

After work and some couch time enjoying Thai carry-out, Ugly Betty, and a little Grey's Anatomy, I fully expected to get back into client photos. Looking at the iMac in our showroom I thought, instead, that I would blog. BLOG - there's something I haven't done in a while! I told Dan of my grand plan, to which he said, "Blog away!"

So here I am...blogging away, catching up on laundry, and trying to remember what life has brought in the last few weeks. Oh, and in between all of those things I'm setting up my account on our new MacBook Pro just the way I want it, and learning the ways its touchpad likes to be touched. Ah, yes.

Taking a little trip back to my birthday, on the 22nd, here are some pictures...

Dan secretly took a half day off work to come home and get things ready. He's definitely a keeper. This is a box of goodies and more goodies - chocolates (including some Starbucks mocha and chai truffles) and little slips of things Dan will do when I redeem them. Things like massages, the dishes, laundry, and tasks of my choice. Oooooo-la-la! With Halloween and this box I think I'm stocked up on chocolate until my next birthday. Candy anyone?


The weekend before my birthday we got some corn stalks from Dan's family's farm, and I drove up to see them placed ever so nicely around our garage and front door. The stalks and one pumpkin were all we did outside - very simple.


We went shopping and I found some new outfits at the Gap, then to Red Lobster for dinner. Since it's not a place we go all the time, I really like going there for my birthday. It's become a little tradition, I guess. Since we were STUFFED FULL of endless shrimp, the dessert had to wait until the next day, but it was awwwwfully delicious - a Reese ice cream cake. I might have to make up an excuse to go buy another one.


That Saturday my parents took us to Outback to celebrate two birthdays - mine and an older brother's. This is me and the younger brother. If you are my Facebook friend then you've already seen this, but it's my favorite shot of us. Good dinner and good times.


A couple days before Halloween I was alone in the house and the doorbell rang. Our neighborhood is really safe as far as we've encountered, but it made me wish for a peep-hole in our front door. When I finally answered it, I saw that we had been BOO'd. Seriously, I had never heard of this booing thing until a couple weeks before Halloween, but what a fun idea. I whipped up a dozen cookies and a little sign so that Dan and I could BOO another neighbor.

We were such amateurs - we had to choose a house about five away because the closest ones had already been hit. We should have hid on the side on their house after ringing the doorbell, but instead we tried to run like maniacs, and then halfway back started to walk as if we were taking a nightly stroll. Next time we'll know the tricks.


Halloween - I'm not even going to rehash the whole thing. I will say that Dan's little brothers came to our neighborhood to trick-or-treat. The younger one went out and had a good time. Dan's friends were having a party that night, so we got ready while the kiddos were walking around. Dan's grandpa sat on the porch and gave out candy for us, but I sat outside in between getting ready and baking cookies for the party.

Dan dressed as McCain and I dressed as Palin, although he tried to put white paint on his face for a pale effect and ended up more like McCain from the grave. That lent much to the satire. Maybe I should've practiced my Alaskan accent while I was at it. Dan had a BIT TOO MUCH Tequila at the party and my fear of puke was tested that night...as was my car's interior. That's enough information. NEXT TIME I WILL KNOW BETTER. Or maybe I should say THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME.

Otherwise - let's make a list.

• Lists are all the rage right now. I know this because Apple didn't put an application on their iPhone for making task lists, so everyone and their cousins have been looking for the next best thing.
• I am one of those "everyone," and my to-do list is currently scattered among a handful of notebook pages. In case you're wondering, this method does NOT help productivity. I thought I had a good thing going, but the app I was using decided to crash all the time and lose random tasks. I guess I should have been happy about less tasks, huh?
  
• Once I'm done with the client photos on deck, I will be doing some surveying and soul-searching to figure out what I want to roll out business-wise for the beginning of '09. There is so much I'd like to do, but I need to pick out a couple manageable things that can get done by the new year.
  
• I spent a chunk of time tonight with an email organizing bug. I need to clean out my inbox at home the same way I do at work. The problem is Gmail (home) vs. Outlook (work), so I'm working some tweaks. I love Gmail too much to use Mac Mail or other things at home. Darn it, Dan - the love for all things Google is all your fault.
  
• By Tuesday I will have my favorite photos posted from a recent shoot we did.
  
• I've been drooling over kraft paper products online. I love that all the ones I've seen are made from some percentage of recycled material, some 100%. Makes me glad that I picked it for our packaging.
  
• Holy cow, now it's time to switch some laundry and get to bed.
  

Goodnight Friday.