Meet B

After much discussion, I ended up skipping the committee meeting, and went with the kids to Petco for Saturday volunteer day.  That was quite an experience in an of itself, but that’s not really what I came to talk to you about. 

You see, last week, we fostered a dog for the rescue (they rely on volunteers providing foster care for many of the dogs during the week).  I had my doubts – this was a dachshund, and we’ve had some really bad experiences with that breed before.  But, it was only going to be a week, so what the heck.

Y’all – this is the most well behaved, good tempered “little” dog I’ve ever seen.  We fell in love with him.  He got along perfectly with our other dogs.  So, we decided last night we’d add him to our family permanently.

This is B.  I’m sure the B stood for something, but whatever it was is lost to time.  He answers to B, so that’s his name.  Trillian has been obsessing for a dachshund for months – she’s studied and bought books and generally pestered us every day.  So B is officially Trillian’s dog – but we all know how that goes.  What he IS, for sure though, is a member of the family. That’s two kids, three dogs, and two insane adults, for those of you keeping score.

Christmas Past

It’s probably time for a new printer/scanner.  But this is still my favorite Christmas photo:

 

It’s funny.  They are just as excited today as they were on this day.

At Least It Wasn’t Me This Time

Just when I’m ready to write off Trillian as a ruthless juvenile delinquent, she does this:

Trillian is actually sick with strep throat right now – I’d hate to see what she’d do at full strength.

The look on Missy’s face is priceless, though.

Pics From The Back To School Fashion Show

Here’s Trillian and Zaphod in the White Gloves Fashion Show for the Parent Magazine Back To School Fair.  Both kids were stylin’ and profilin’ (we can’t afford those clothes ourselves).  This was the reason I couldn’t be at BarCamp.  Thanks to Susie and daughter for coming to see them. 

 

Zaphod kind of embarrassed us; he was a little too loose for a manners class graduate.  But, he lightened up the festivities, and this is where I learned he inherits my stage craziness.  Now I know how my Dad feels.

I would post some of the other pics, the other kids were so cute, but there’s the whole minors/parental permission thing.  I know that there is no public expectation of privacy, but I still want to respect parental autonomy when possible.  That being said, my kids were just kids.  Some of those kids modeled like they did it for a living.  I’m not making value judgements, it just took me aback for a bit.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and I sure wish we could have afforded that dress for Trillian 😦 Even with 25% model discount, Dillard’s is a little too uptown for us.  But, if I just entered Trillian in a pageant or two, we’d, I mean she’d have extra money for the fancy duds.  HMMMMMM.

Nah.  She’d rather cook.  Have I told you yet, she’s on a cooking tear lately? I am so happy I could bust.  An apprentice!

Oh, you can get to the full size photos at Flickr.

5 Years. That’s All.

Going through photographs of this vacation, and comparing them to the one on our 15th anniversary, is quite an eye opener.  Check it out:

And y’all wonder why I want to color my hair.  The days slide by.  Good thing we don’t take it all too seriously:

We will hold these days like a precious jewel.  No, a priceless treasure.

There are much more at my Flikr page.

Hey, Photographers!

Help me figure out what happened here.  What happened to make my daughter’s arm disappear? (click to embiggen)

It was a low light / high movement situation; probably not the best for a newbie.

The full info about the shot is here. Was it the flash? The sun? The settings? Could I do it again, on purpose?

I really want to learn the science of light. The art can’t come till I master the science. The engineer in me wants a formula: x amount of available light, combined with y aperture and z exposure causes xyz effect. I want a chart, a sliding scale table, something where I can do an equation to get the effect I want. I won’t be ready to set my inner artist loose till I’ve figured out what the heck I’m doing with the science.  I DON’T want to learn photography like I did music.

Anybody know a good book on the science of light?

A Few Photos From the Dillard’s Fashion Show

The kids graduated from manners class this past Saturday by participating in a fashion show at Dillard’s.  I’m working on video, but I’ve been incredibly busy and haven’t had time yet.  In the meantime, I give you photos:

Zaphod in his casual outfit (his native attire):

Trillian, looking hip and bored like a real model in her casual outfit:

Zaphod, looking dapper and uncomfortable in his suit:

Trillian, stunningly beautiful in her formal dress:

Trillian finally flashes a smile:

Oh, Happy Day

More at Follow The Mullet!

Crazy Squirrel

Anybody been to Disney World in the last few years? I’m just wondering if this crazy, fearless squirel is still hanging around next to the fish and chips place in Epcot. He was as relentless as I am in getting paws on a french fry!

Yes, I know he’s vermin and could have given us a disease. But how could you NOT reward such brazenness?