Because they make me smile

Here are Thor and Loki with my nephew.

Wordless Wednesday: Laughter

My nephew laughs like crazy while my husband holds him high in the air.

Life: Daylight and dog puke

Daylight savings time got off to a rocky start Sunday, as my husband and I had trouble adjusting to that loss of an hour and getting out of bed for our nephew's baptism. (The late night with friends didn't help.)

We ended up just going to the post-baptism luncheon, and were only minorly hassled by the family. (This is one of the few photos that anyone took where my nephew is actually smiling -- perhaps he didn't like wearing a dress?)

But the payoff for the switch to daylight savings time was huge on Monday evening, when I could commute home while the sun was still up.

And now that the weather has decided to warm up into the 40s and 50s this week, I'm starting to feel frisky -- wearing lighter jackets, opening windows, wanting to get outside.

Speaking of opening windows, I had to air out the house last night. Apparently, one of the dogs got sick on Sunday and we didn't notice. Monday as I was leaving, I stopped in the family room. What is that smell? I look around, don't see anything on the floor, then notice dried vomit on the sofa. Yuck. And right where Loki likes to lay.

I cleaned the cushion as best I could, but that wasn't good enough. The room still reeked yesterday. So now, the sofa cushion has been banished to the garage while I figure out how to remove the odor from it. My concern is not just the odor, but cleaning it in a way that won't cause the cushion to fade. I guess it's a downside of dog ownership.

Another downside? Fur. Everywhere. Loki and Thor are majorly shedding. They have an appointment with a set of clippers as soon as it's reliably warm enough outside. Maybe in a month. And while I'm complaining about dogs? Poop. The snow has mostly melted off and it's time to get out and really clean that backyard. *shudder*

You know, I think I'm due some extra tailwags and snuggles when I get home today.

On the bright side, our Colorado vacation is fast approaching. Just 10 more days. Our tax refund should be direct deposited the day before we leave, so it'll almost feel like a free vacation. :)

Happy New Year!

Looking forward to new things in the New Year. Productive writing. Continued health. Welcome changes. What are your resolutions?

New camera

My Dear Husband gave me a wonderful gift for Christmas, and even let me have it a few days early: A new camera! (And he was in the first photo I took with the camera.)

A Nikon D40x -- a digital SLR.

Is it the year of the digital SLR camera? Perhaps.

My sister, my sister-in-law and I all have the same camera now all purchased within the past few months.

It's been years since I used an SLR -- way back before my first digital camera. I think the digital SLRs have finally come down enough in price, and more people are switching over again.

Expect to see lots more photos in the coming months. I burned through at least 500 of them over the holiday weekend (many were instantly deleted because I was just playing). The nice thing about digital SLRs? Pixels and 1s and 0s don't cost money to develop.

So far, my favorite photo I've taken is this one, also of my Dear Husband, this time holding his new nephew:



And here are some runners up:



And of course I had to experiment with some abstract and artsy photos, which are not necessarily my best, but I had fun:



What do you think? Anything here worth saving?

I have a lot of technical things still to figure out on the camera (using lighting better, using the auto focus better, etc.) but that's what classes are for. Wolf camera is nice enough to offer free courses in January. I'll be there.

In the mean time, here are some more photos I like:

More birthday wishes

A warm welcome to my new nephew "Peanut".

A big boy at 9 pounds, 11 ounces! But he's a sweetie!

His Mom, Dave's sister, is having a really rough recovery, but despite some serious complications, we hope things are on the upswing. Healing thoughts her way.

"Peanut", incidentally, shares a birthday with another nephew of mine, "Louis".

(Technical question: To use the term "birthday twin", does the birth year matter? Do they have to be born the same date and year, or just the same date?)

More special dates

Yet another cluster of special occasions to mark.

Today is my wedding anniversary -- lucky number 13. Happy Anniversary Dave. :-)

There are also birthdays for JC, Auntie Donna, my godson Adam, and my nephew "Louis". Happy Birthday.

We're waiting for good news about a new neice/nephew "Peanut" to be born (due two days ago).

Wishing continued improvement to Rick who is recovering from major, major surgery.

And, thinking about the Red Dog, who went to the bridge five years ago today.

(I'm not sure which I feel more like: A morning weatherman reading off a list of announcements, or that lady from Romper Room who held up the mirror and listed different kids' names every week. I swear, she saw every kid but never a "Haley". LOL)