Weekend

Happy (?) Memorial Day!

I have been in California visiting my parents. I have more photos to show you later, of course–this is just some dessert from tonight. It’s been a relaxing weekend of time outdoors, new koi for my parents’ pond, catching up on House Hunters episodes, eating delicious food, playing games and chatting it up.

Oh and tonight I said grace before dinner, and I accidentally ended my prayer with “Goodnight,” instead of “Amen.” And then I very reverently burst out laughing. I guess I was done talking to God for the day!

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May

I like May. It’s the Friday of summer, and full of possibilities. I get very corny talking about May! Maybe you noticed. (Oh, me!)

I was trying to think about what sort of post I could do in honor of May, and one idea was to give you some fun facts about me. Some things you may or may not know. 🙂 But when I started to list things, I kept second-guessing whether I had told them to you already, and also whether they were even interesting. So we’ll scratch that idea.

Another idea involved showing you photos from previous Mays, but every time I go looking into my photo archives, I get all tired out. There are SO MANY, and I spend too much time deciding, while simultaneously getting incredibly bored.

Yet another idea involved saying all sorts of happy things about May, whether they are things I like about it, hopes I have for summer, or even good memories. But I’m not feeling energetic enough to write about those things, and once again it seems uninteresting.

So the result is a post about what I didn’t post. Satisfying, isn’t it?

Happy May Day and month of May! Please tell me what you like about May, and/or what fun plans you have this month.

By the way, if you ever have a request for a particular post or some information, just ask and you may receive! I do actually have a few requests for a wallpaper post as well as a particular tutorial/tips post, and I just need to get my act together and make them.

20 years ago…was I even born yet?

Happy TWENTIETH anniversary to my sister R and her husband C! It seems unpossible that I could have a sister married that long! I remember the very windy wedding day like it was only ten years ago. Twelve, tops.

Here’s to 50 more years. *clink* Oh and hey, maybe by the time you celebrate your 70th anniversary, I’ll be planning a wedding of my own!

PS Happy half-birthday to me. 😀 It’s my blog, so I get to bring the focus back to myself and my non-accomplishment.

Various flowers

I have lots of pictures, but I wasn’t really sure how many to post at a time.
We’ll see what happens here. Most of these are flowers from Deepwood Estate, though some came from work or maybe even Bush park.

R, here’s another one of those camellias with its perfection. Only striped!

Not striped!

I had a good Easter. The fact that it was sunny made it a million times better than usual, but it was also a good balance of quietness and social time. Church was good, the day was good, and then I took Monday off and took some of these flower photos! All weekends should be three days.

How was your Easter?

Easter

This isn’t a traditional Easter flower, but it’s a photo I took yesterday, so I’m using it. Think of it as hearts made white as snow and coming out of darkness! It’s so symbolic. 😉 Have a nice Easter day!

[Those are lyrics from See, What a Morning, in case anyone wonders.]

Valentine’s Day

I’m suddenly feeling very grateful for all the nice things people have done for me, and even though that seems more like a Thanksgiving post, I thought I’d list a few thank-yous here (and I know I’m missing A BUNCH). This is just off the top.

1. Thanks to any friends and family who have been willing to let me take pictures of them, whether for practice or because they needed them for some purpose. As much as I hate having my own picture taken, I extra appreciate your cooperation.

2. Thanks to Dania (and anyone else) for visiting me several times in the past year or so! I was just thinking about how fun that was to have her company. Dania, I hope you might consider coming again this year. 🙂 (One thing that reminded me of this is that the above rose photo was taken when she and I went to Butchart Gardens in ’07.)

3. Thanks to anyone who has been hospitable to me. Friends, relatives, immediate family, and acquaintances. I know how much work can be involved in having guests stay. It’s so nice that people have made beds and meals and welcomed me over the years–even people who barely know me, sometimes!

4. Thanks to anyone who reads this blog. 🙂 And especially thanks to anyone who comments either on this blog, in email, or in person. I know there’s a lot of stuff you could be reading and the fact that you take time out for me is very awesome of you.

5. Thanks to my parents for taking my sisters and I places when we were kids and still as adults. The other day I was thinking about all of the really great memories I have of special times as a family–days on Lake Tahoe, trips to Disneyland, delicious restaurants, camping, trips to Mexico. The list goes on and on, and I might post about it more sometime. I know that it’s a lot of effort and expense to do stuff like that, but I have really wonderful memories to show for it. My dad takes care of the overall vision and planning fun adventures, and my mom is the cheerleader and caretaker as she assists my dad and does lots of little chores here and there to keep things running smoothly.

6. Thanks to my nieces and nephews for being so adorable and also for liking to spend time with me! They’re such an ego boost. I love them and love having them in my life. See you soon, S, C, Z, J, C, L, K, N and E! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

7. Thanks to my close friends for letting me vent and whine and talk about the same things over and over. For sharing inside jokes with me, supporting me, complimenting me, liking my cooking, helping me with the dishes afterwards, watching movies with me even when I criticize them throughout, teaching me games, answering my texts, and cheerfully putting up with overly-analytical and sarcastic me.

8. Thanks to my coworkers for being so nice! I can’t ever complain that I am not appreciated at work. I am continually getting comments of praise about my work. It feels unfair, sometimes, because I happen to have a job (graphic design/photography) where I have something to show for my effort, while many people can be overlooked even though they work a lot harder than I do.

9. Thanks to anyone in customer service who is consistently helpful and kind when I know it’s hard to deal with many people out there. We all have to work in customer service to an extent, but people in retail, food service, customer service call centers, etc. have to deal with an extra dose of unfriendly people on a regular basis. It’s impressive when they can still be so pleasant despite that.

10. And thanks to God for all of the above and so much more!

You’re all my Valentine’s! Hearts all around! ♥

It’s almost my Special Minute.

And my special minute is 10:18, because my birthday is 10/18. Most of you know that, but now the rest of you are informed and you can cherish that moment twice per day. 🙂

I’m tired of obsessing over whether my posts are Photography enough. This is my blog. I will post stuff here, and it won’t always relate to photography. It’s too hard to stick to certain themes, don’t you think? Toooooo restrictive. Especially when I take way fewer photos in the winter months.

Guess what! My mom is coming to visit me. 😀 The last part of February is going to be packed, but it’ll be good.

Someone’s screencap of their Paradise Island game.
Lately I’m hooked on city building games, although I’ve reduced it to two at the moment (one stopped working correctly, so I uninstalled it). I’m playing Paradise Island and My Country. Both try to get me to pay them money, which I resent, but I just do everything the long way and play the free version. The thing is, I’d be willing to pay a little for a game up front. What I don’t like is that they claim they are free, but then want to charge here and there for little tasks. Microtransactions, I guess they call them. There are lots of names. Anyway, if you know of any good city building games (with nice graphics) that don’t try to take all my money, please do tell.

Did you notice they had Jennifer Garner writing on a chalk board in her class?
Who still uses chalk boards?
I rented the movie Valentine’s Day tonight, because I was suddenly in the mood to watch something. I thought it was pretty good. Definitely a few little surprises and happy moments.

I used to have stronger feelings about Valentine’s Day (in both directions, depending on what was going on in my life), but the older I get, the less interesting it becomes. I think that’s true about me, too. 😛

Do you have any Valentine’s plans? Feelings about the holiday that you want to share? Memories?

Death’s dark shadows put to flight

I used this trick around the neighborhood. 🙂 I’m a fantastic tree cutter.

Have a wonderful day!

11/11/11

Happy Ones Day! Or Elevens Day. Yes, I did schedule this to post at 11:11am. 🙂 I don’t think I can designate the seconds, though.

[I don’t have a special photo, but I wanted this entry to be more than text, so just imagine those weeds are making the number eleven on purpose. 😀 It’s a very festive photo, isn’t it? So bold and full of energy.]

This day seems special, so I have even planned a get-together with some of my friends to celebrate it tonight! I know it also happens to be Veteran’s Day, so many of you have the day off and will think more about veterans than numbers (as you probably should).

Have a great day!

Venting

I guess this is like the opposite of a Thankful Thursday post.

1. Google Reader. They changed their whole look, and that’s fine I guess, but in the process they changed where the “previous/next post” button is. I’m STILL bringing my cursor down to the bottom of the screen and then getting all angry when I remember it’s up at the top right now. Why, Google? WHY??

2. Google+. Speaking of Google, I haven’t been able to use Google+ (Google Plus?) in months. They suspended my account because my name wasn’t the format they wanted. I changed it, but it’s still just suspended indefinitely. It says it’s “under review” like it’ll get fixed soon, but nothing has changed in almost three months. I can’t post anything there. I wasn’t hooked on it anyway, and I’m tempted to deactivate, but it just makes me annoyed that it happened at all and that they don’t provide any way to clarify or fix the situation.

3. Target. Yes, I’m about to complain about Target, even though I love it. Two things really annoyed me the other day. One was the fact that a woman was boldly walking her dog around on a leash, and at least three employees saw her but said nothing. I’m not talking about a seeing eye dog, it was a small terrier or something. Is it suddenly okay to walk your dog around inside stores?

4. Target 2. This is something that has bothered me many times, but I was reminded the other day. When you see that yellow “low price” (or some other wording) tag hanging off the shelf like there’s a sale, often you can scoot it over to reveal the original price underneath. And often that original price is EXACTLY THE SAME as the “low price.” I know what they’re doing–they’re trying to draw attention like there is some deal and you should stock up, but in reality they have done nothing but spend time and money hanging tags on the shelves in order to trick you. Other times you might see it say “Price Cut,” and if you look at the original price, it might be literally 2 or 4 cents more. I have a photo to prove it (but can’t find it right now, sorry). I don’t like it when businesses try to trick you. Target is also known for their fluorescent red-orange clearance stickers. They draw the eye, but often you’ll see the “clearance” price is less than a dollar off the original price. That’s not clearance, Target. Don’t insult me.

5. Putting a long-sleeved sweater over a long-sleeved shirt. It gets all twisted on the arms. As my coworker would say, it whomps.

6. The holiday season. Yes, I know this is going to sound totally grinchy, but every year I have less and less patience for the extended festivities and obligations that come with the holidays. I have nothing against the holidays themselves (of course not!), but the pressure we have to deal with is ridiculous. The stores start carrying Christmas decor before Halloween, but by November 1 they are in full-blown Christmas mode. There are constant messages around us to buy presents for everyone, spend lots of money, attend (and host) many parties when things are already hectic, listen to Christmas music 24/7, and go to great lengths to get together with relatives when flying is expensive and road conditions are iffy. I guess I just wish everyone would calm down. We should remember and celebrate Jesus’s birth, for sure. But the other stuff should be for enhancing the season, not burning us out.

7. My pride. It’s out of control sometimes. I can be less-than-loving in how I talk to people when I am looking out for myself.

Okay, I think that’s enough grouchiness for today.

In good news, it’s been sunny (even if cold) and I’m just so thankful (again) for free evenings. With work being stressful at times, they are my happy section of the day that I can look forward to. Also, there should be a new episode of Ringer ready for me to watch online! Yes, I’ve been watching Ringer. My taste in TV shows is impeccable.

(Those photos were taken with my phone and edited in Picplz. That’s why they’re kind of odd.)