Fall Madness

So, maybe I took 549 pictures yesterday, just in my little yard, but it's the viburnum's fault, for being so enchanting. I also blame the incredible quality of light in the woods in the morning, and the glowing magic light as the sun was setting too.  I was so intent on trying to capture the light, color and patterns that I almost forgot to smell. Oh my. I breathed so deep and long I got dizzy. Crunchy fall leaves, earthy brown smells, colors in every shade - I took pictures morning and evening until my hands were numb.  I'm making some DVD's for my mom and a certain leaf loving friend in California so I have a little excuse besides my insanity for all this excess.

These few selections are just from yesterday, just the viburnums, just one variety of the four I have in my yard. Don't even get me started on the Bradford Pear.......

Attention Online Shoppers....

I'm mostly an online shopper, because shopping out in the world can make me depressed faster than any other modern day activity, except maybe sitting in traffic. I hate wasting hours looking for things that aren't in the store, I hate waiting in lines and my super tall family can't wear much off the racks unless highwaters come back in style. So I let my fingers do the shopping, and I stay happy at home in my comfy clothes.

A friend told me about Ebates - a shopping portal that gives you rebates, and I was hooked. Creating an account was easy - just an email and address, so they can mail me checks. I was shopping at these stores anyway, so I'm happy to click through another link first to get cash back. Sometimes I forget and have my cart filled, but it's almost always magically still there when I open the new window through ebates.

I've been using ebates for most all my online shopping needs and in less than 2 years I've earned $165 in rebates. Most stores offer 3% back, but some go up to 10% which thrills me to no end, because I grew up in a tax free state, and giving Illinois 7% galls me, so the rebates take some of that sting away.

Lots of companies offer free shipping or low flat rate shipping. I ordered from 3 stores tonight because the babies keep growing and I paid $4 in shipping costs. I'm teaching my kids to never, ever pay retail, and to always shop around for the best deal.  There's no need to bang my head against the wall at American Eagle or the mall, with sticker shock or lack of stock.  Plus, I really like shopping at my old favorites, like Bealls in Florida or Boscov's in Maryland from afar, and sometimes the clearance deals are crazy good.

If you want to check it out, Ebates has over 1200 participating stores, and if I read it right, you get a $5 credit for signing up through that link. Anyway, with the crass commercialism season looming, I thought I'd pay the Ebate hint forward. We might as well get something out of the deal.

Happy shopping  :)

Learning Curve

I have taken over 1500 pictures since October 1st, trying to catch all the interesting things I see, which is apparently almost everything. I have read 86 pages of the instruction booklet, but am too stubborn to read the other 150 pages yet to see what else silly I didn't know. Like how to adjust the exposure - I thought that's what Auto did, but my daytime shots were washed out and wrong.

Another thing I learned is that the digital zoom doesn't work unless you have the camera set to the correct aspect ratio. I didn't even know what that did, but now I do. I'm keeping it set for more zoom. I can never have enough zoom or enough macro.

I learned that you can take pictures in vivid color mode, which thrilled me to no end, and probably requires an apology for the eye aches some of the photos cause.

I learned that sometimes, the reason everything is out of focus is not because the camera is too high tech for my old brain, but because the dog put a snotty noseprint on the lens, or somebody's fingerprint made a smudge.I learned that I can take pictures in all kinds of funny modes, like fishbowl, miniature, sepia, color swap. I had big time playing with those.

I don't know what I'll do with all this knowledge, and I can't imagine what I'll learn in the back two thirds of the manual. I am sure that I will keep taking way too many pictures, and that no matter how much I read or learn, sometimes taking a good picture is about just showing up with a camera and pressing the button.

Happy Friday

These pictures aren't too bad considering I was driving when I took them. Honest, I never took my eyes off the road. And I'm pretty sure I was slowing to a stop for the last one, otherwise it would be a great deal blurrier. I took them on Wednesday, but Happy Friday anyhow.

They lose something in the small size, I like them better clicked and enlarged to get the feel of them. I can't tell you the number of times I've felt compelled to point my camera out the car window or the sun roof, because the sky was so blue, the clouds were so white and the midwest landscape just cried out to be remembered. It happens most often in the fall, just before the crops are harvested and the trees are bare. There is something so bittersweet and beautiful about it that I wish I could just pull over and soak it in. Maybe because I know what's coming. I've never been one to look forward to winter, especially since I moved here, forever ago.

Wasn't the moon something this week? This shot sucks compared to what I saw - the clouds were hugging it just so, the planes were buzzing past, and as I put the camera down, one plane flew right across the bright white of the moon and it was something else. I wished there was someone in the car with me to say Would you just look at that!? to, but I had to settle for me and my camera. The blurry picture is better than nothing I suppose.

I know that change is in the air: the cold front blasted through yesterday, wreaking havoc with the scenery and ushering those glorious last sunny days far from here. Change is in the air, all around.

I'm going back to work, part time, my first real job in almost 15 years. It's time. College sticker shock is reason enough, but there's plenty of good reasons for getting a job now. I'm thankful to find one in this economy. I was beginning to feel old and obsolete after throwing my hat in the ring 7 times for one nibble. But that nibble bit, and on this Halloween I'll be doing the spookiest thing I've done in a long time - starting over again, again. The best part is I will get to feel good about what I'll be doing, working at the local college in the testing center, where hopeful people will be coming for their GED's, continuing education and work testing. Hopefully my work will help other people find their own work. I like that idea, and I'm thinking that this change can only do me good.

I hope interesting things are afoot in your world, and for some of you (Ms. Moon!!) I know they are! Have a great weekend.

I'd Like Some More of This Too, Please....

We have been on a run of extraordinary October weather. Here is the forecast for the coming week. This is the longest stretch of October consecutive days of 100% sunshine since 1934. We are basking in temperatures 30 degrees higher than a week ago. Everything is sunny, warm and golden. I'm trying not to be too greedy, but of course I want more.

I'm soaking every drop of sunshine in, and taking pictures to get me through the coming winter, which is predicted to break records for low temperatures and blizzards. One weatherman said this winter will make Chicago residents want to move. As if it doesn't already.

I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, it's all sunshine and smiles here.

Hope it's lovely where ever you are.

I'd like 25 more please

How often can you say you know exactly what you were doing 25 years ago today?  Some days I can't remember what I did 25 minutes ago. But today, my long term memory is perfect.


When we decided to get married, the date was easy to pick. It was the first weekend without a sailboat race, 10-4-1986.

About a million kisses later, there are no more sailboats, but there are kids. Who knew? I was never getting married and I was never having kids. I'm glad I was wrong.

The years flew right by, they really did. And how we are celebrating? No fancy trips or dinners tonight, just salty popcorn and cold pizza from the concession stands. Our youngest (#4) has a volleyball match, and our oldest is golfing in the regional qualifiers today in perfect weather. Very exciting stuff.

The symmetry here is that sports are driving the schedule, and that just like the day we got married, we both are fighting nasty headcolds. We got sick on our wedding day, and kleenexes went everywhere with us on our honeymoon, and here we are 25 years later with kleenexes and stuffy heads, just like old times. That fancy dinner can wait until we can taste food again.

It's been a great ride. I couldn't have imagined this future, and I can't imagine where the next 25 will take us, but one thing I'm certain of - it will be interesting and there will be kisses.

Happy Anniversary Honey.

XXOO