Happy Anniversary to us!

I know many people congratulate themselves on reaching a blog anniversary, but mine isn't for a bit (July).

However, today is the 19th anniversary of The Dude and my wedding. So I am wishing us a happy 19th anniversary. This past year has been hairy from a relationship point of view and we are working on our communication difficulties in order to grow closer to each other.

Happy anniversary Dude!

Music Monday and RIP

While I was on vacation with my family, three notable people passed from this world into the next. I can only imagine the conversation they had at the pearly gates...

Firstly Al Ross, former boxer and the founder of Doggie Diner. I've been talking about Doggie Diner lately having just adopted a dashchund who resmbles the DD mascot, minus the chef's hat and bow tie.

Secondly Dixie Carter, actress and singer. I LOVED her character on Designing Women. She was one fireball of a woman, and will be missed:


Thirdly Meinhardt Raabe, actor and most well known as the Munchkin Coroner in The Wizard of Oz, and as Little Oscar, in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile:


Rest in Peace to all.

Sunday Morning Spring Break Round Up - Part 3

Day 3 found us without a plan, and so we slept in. The Dude looked up some things to do in the area, and we decided on going to the USS Midway. Drove South for about an hour and toured the Midway. the Youngest will never be a Navy man, because being below deck freaked him out. He whinned the whole time about wanting to get out, but loved sitting in all of the cockpits and planes and helicopters. The Oldest actually liked the tour as weel (I thought he'd be bored). Ended up with a late lunch in Old Town San Diego. Once back at the condo, I took The Boys swimming while The Dude napped. We ended up snacking for dinner, and headed home the next morning. Overall a great time spending time together, and my only regret was not spending time at the beach. A beach trip is in order to renew myself, and soon.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Sunday Morning Spring Break Round Up - Part 2

On day 2, we decided to surprise The Boys and got up early to drive the hour to Disneyland. We didn't tell them where we were going, and they figured it out when we got to the freeway exit. We spent 14 hours in the park, and Downtown Disney, had dinner at House of Blues, and watched the fireworks from outside the restaurant. Had to DRAG The Oldest on Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones. He cried in every line, working up tears worthy of an Oscar nomination. As soon as we got off of Pirates he wanted to go again. Haunted Mansion, he admited, was not that bad (though he hated the stetching room at the beginning), And he spent Indiana Jones with his head buried between his arms, white knuckling the hand rail, and only looked up on the 3 times I told him that Indy was there. The Youngest loved all of the rides, but did spend Indiana Jones with his eyes closed, a serene smile on his face. He was in his happy place, and made me worry about causing multiple personality disorder. They really loved Toon Town, and the Roger Rabbit ride. They rode together, while The Dude tried to make me barf by spinning the taxi. Oh, and while in line for Indiana Jones, The Oldest read the warning sign about heart and stomach problems, pregnancy, etc., turned to me and we had the the following exchange:
The Oldest (quite concerned): Mom, do I have high blood pressure?
Me: No honey, you are 9, and do not have high blood pressure.
The Oldest: Do you have high blood pressure?
Me: Yes honey, I do.
The Oldest: Well, you can't ride this ride. I'll wait with you.
Me: Honey, I take medicine for my high blood pressure, and I'll be fine on this ride. I've ridden it before, and survived, and you will too.
This was followed by more begging and tears. Finally, The Dude made a deal with him that if The Oldest got off the ride and didn't say he wanted to go again, he would be paid $5.00, AND we would not make him go on another ride all day. As soon as we were off the ride, I asked if he wanted to go again. He shook his head, smiled and held out his hand for the money. Later in the day, another family was in line behind us and trying to talk their son (who looked about 9) into going on Indiana Jones. They asked The Oldest if it was scary. He shook his head no, saw our raised eyebrows, and quickly qualified his answer with, "but I'm not going on it again."
Also, The Youngest was really mad that he wasn't picked for the Jedi training show until we explained that he was an actual Jedi, he already knew all the moves they did, so he wasn't a Paduan, and didn't need the training. After that, he was much happier.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Sunday Morning Spring Break Round Up - Part 1

Well, I've been off line for a week or so, though still reading personal e-mails and posting on fb from vacation.

Our first day in Southern California, spent in Legoland was really fun. We were kind of bummed that the place was only open for 8 hours, but it was worth the trip. None of us had ever been there, and The Boys loved it! The coolest part was that many of the rides are rider powered. You pull yourself up for the drop ride, you pedal the rollercoaster, you pump the water to spray. There is also a robot arm ride where you can select the intensity of the ride from 1-5. The Dude rode it alone (because the rest of us are chicken), on 5 and said it was a great ride. You can see a video of it here:

Obviously, not The Dude, but it gives you the level 5 ride.
We spent the final 2 hours of the day in the water park and we were all exhausted at the end of the day.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

This year's Easter Basket Treasure Hunt

The Easter Bunny once again hid The Boys' baskets and set them on a hunt.  I took these shots with my iphone, so apologies for quality - it was difficult enough to get them to stand still at all!

The clues and answers follow:

1. Welcome to your Easter Basket hunt! The clues are fun, your hunt is true, at the end your baskets are

     waiting for you! Hold on to your seat – the first clue is where Dad grills his meat.

A. The BBQ Gril on the Back Patio

2. If a clue is feeling awful, maybe it would like a waffle.

A. The kitchen freezer

3. It has six strings, and plays a fine tune, on the case of dad’s in the living room.

A. The Dude's guitar case.

4. When you take a bath or go to pee, the next clue is what you’ll see.

A. Inside the bathtub

5. It’s a sign of the season in the dirt out front, your clue if you want.

A. The "Spring" yard sign

6. As high as you can climb, way out back and under the roof there is where you’ll find some proof.

A. Inside the roof of the fort

7. When you run out of juice or milk before of the store, you go here to look for more.

A. Garage fridge

8. Take out the trash, and you may find a clue of a different kind.

A. Outside trashcan

9. Where your Mom lays her head, your final clue can be read.

A. Under my pillow

(and the photo of this was so blurry, it really could have been anywhere)

10. If you are looking for a banjo or some games to play, you know where your baskets have space to stay.

A. Playroom closet

 

Happy Easter All!

My Town Shoot Out - Bokeh Updated

I found additional images on my other computer - they are at the end of the post.
I love bokeh, and didn't know what they were called until pretty recently, so I scoured my backlog for them, as I've got an assignment due tomorrow...
Bokeh is the choice this week from T of Picture This. "In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." Differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting— "good" or "bad" bokeh, respectively. Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions."
I encourage you to go and see everyone's contributions here or here.
These are all from my archives on Picassa:

From J9 and stuff

From J9 and stuff

From J9 and stuff

And I felt bad for not having anything better all ready to go, AND I've been wanting to play with bokeh for a while - I may get the chance, once this semester ends!!

Found some more while looking at images to turn in tomorrow!!
Pretty much all Bokeh shot intentially this way:

Foreground Bokeh, intentionally shot:

Good Weekend to all!