Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #78: Still Life, with food

I've been bad these past two weeks with both assignments I usually participate in. With my daughter getting her tonsils out and working midnights, it's been a bit difficult. But, since my wife got me a new camera for my birthday, I have to participate this week, right? This week Carly wanted some still life photos of food. I hope I did it right.

I only had one day to do something so here it goes:

This I took at my mom's, I liked the contrast of the bananas and the candy next too each other. Which will you choose?

Then, at home, I was playing around with the mini- and full-size bananas we have.

That's all I've got. I need a lot of time with this new camera to get used to it, and learn how to use it. I'm also planning to take some lessons, so that should be fun.

Go to Carly's site and check out the rest of the photos, won't you?

The 40s

No, not the decade...well, I guess in a way that is what I mean. See, today I am officially "in my 40s." Yes, I'm 41 now. The problem is that it was much faster to get to 41 than 39. That can't be a good sign. Next thing I know I'll be posting that I hit 50. Maybe I will, there probably won't be blogs anymore. I'll just post my thoughts in your head, but only if you sign up for it and agree to the share your thoughts with me. Unless it's issued as a "beta" and we accidentally get to share thoughts with everybody for a short period until you get the option to opt out. (Huh?)

See, I'm already losing my my mind. Actually, I don't care too much about turning 41, though I am mildly disturbed by the commercials I've been hearing lately where some guy drops dead at 42 because he didn't get his heart checked. I know they want to scare us into doing it, but can they pick someone a little older? You know, to make me feel better.

So yes, I'm getting older. You should probably get off my lawn and turn down that loud music.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to send in an application to 60 minutes. Someone needs to replace Andy Rooney.

Maybe spring ain't so far away

Think Spring
Originally uploaded by Mike F.

At least this little guy thinks so. Even though we got a fresh few inches of snow yesterday, on top of the 3 or 4 we got the day before, this little guy knows that spring is coming.

Let's hope this little guy is right. I've had it with the snow this year.

El Nino can kiss my ass.

My problem with snooze

Yes, I have a problem. I'll admit it. I hit snooze 2-3 times per morning. Yes, it doesn't really do any good, and it bugs Jenn, but I can't help myself. I can't set my alarm for the time I really need to get up. I need to be able to look at the clock and say, "Hey, I can sleep for another 10 (or 8, 0r 9, when ever the snooze goes off) minutes." Then I smack the snooze button and go back to sleep. This doesn't always work out so well for me.

There have been times when I hit the snooze in my sleep. Since I wasn't fully awake to calculate how much longer I can sleep, there have been times when I need to jump out of the bed and take the world's fastest shower. Yes, I timed it. It should be in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. .

On our old clock the snooze and 'off' buttons were really close. Dangerously close, if you ask me. I have woken up at the time when I should be in the car driving. I think I skipped the shower that time. Luckily, it was a weekend with little traffic and few people at work.

Just the other day I had a new problem. The alarm went off, I hit the button to turn it off, and I got into the shower. When I went back into the bedroom I looked at the clock and swore. Somehow I managed to get up without hitting snooze at all. I was up about 20 minutes early. I came so close to getting back into bed that morning. It was probably best that I didn't. It was one of my more relaxing mornings, I have to say.

Then, the day after that happened I got even more confused. The alarm went off and I stared at it for what seemed like ten minutes. The time was all wrong, it was way too early, and I couldn't remember if I had to work that morning. Finally Jenn got up and I remembered it was set for her to go to her training session and I was off that day. It was really nice to go back to sleep, even if I was a little confused.

I need to design a new kind of snooze on an alarm clock. Maybe the alarm can go off, but a voice will come on to tell you that you can hit snooze two more times before you really need to get up. That could be a good idea! Hmm, I need to find a Billy Mays type person to get this thing going...

Our brave little girl

Yesterday was the big day. Our daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed. Quick note; adenoids have nothing to do with old Domino's Pizza ads, just in case you are like me and had no idea what they are. To be honest, I'm still not sure what they are, but I know where they are and that they slowly disappear as you get older anyway. So, if you are reading this, you probably don't have them any more. And that is your science tip of the day, boys and girls.

Anyway, it was a big day, but she was pretty good. She didn't cry at all during the morning, but she was disappointed she could only play two games of Wii bowling before we left. I think the tour we had of the operating room helped out a lot. She did ask if she was going to be asleep through the whole thing pretty much every chance she had. I can't count how many times she asked, but I don't blame her, I'd do the same thing.

We also got to see her nice and loopy after they gave her some 'happy juice.' I have no idea what it was, but she found it funny how dizzy she was after drinking it. She tried to get up many times and we had to keep her on the bed. We didn't need her getting her arm in a cast on the same day, though that might be a cheaper way to do that.

After she was wheeled into the OR, Jenn and I had about an hour to kill in the waiting area. I was surprised to see that Jenn didn't cry, I expected some tears. Maybe we were all al little calmed down by the OR visit. We spent the hour watching the Tiger Woods apology, then we had a quick snack in the cafeteria and watched some Olympic curling on TV. I still don't understand curling, but it always reminds me of watching the Olympics in the middle of the night when our son was a baby. That was the first time I'd ever heard of curling.

The fun started when we got to see her in the recovery room. She was not happy. Not that I blame her, she'd been drugged and couldn't remember anything from the last hour and there were holes inside her throat. Who wouldn't be pissed off? It took a while for her to calm down, which we were told was normal, then we moved into another room to have her rest and try to drink water. That was the big thing. She had to drink water in order for her to be discharged. The nurses wanted to make sure she could swallow and keep it down so we didn't end up back in the ER with a dehydrated little girl. At this point she was asking to go home almost constantly, but the nurse was great at getting her to understand what she needed to do before we could leave. The next thing I knew she was drinking the water and asking if she had enough. Finally she had enough and we got to go home.

We left at the perfect time where we could go straight to the kid's school to get our son and go home. The next hard part was the medicine. The doctor told us to make sure we stay on top of the pain. If her throat got too sore she would stop drinking then we'd be back at the hospital getting her an IV to get fluids into her. She hates the medicine, and I don't blame her. I didn't try it, but it smells gross. But it works. She finally took it all (I never realized how long it could take to drink one teaspoon) and she was sleeping 10 minutes later. I need some stuff like that some nights.

While she slept Jenn took our son to buy more Popsicles and ice cream, and I watched The Fugitive for the 100th time.

The nurses told us that today will be the worst day for her. I hope that's not true since I'm at work, but we'll see how it goes. I'm just glad the surgery over. Let's all hope for less strep throat in our house. Please. 

Weekend Assignment #306: Famous Author

Carly is running the weekend assignment this week, and she wants us to pretend we are famous authors. Interesting.

So, the deal is it has to be something we don't normally read, or aren't known for. Since I'm not known for anything, I decided to have a little fun. I hope that is okay.

Weekend Assignment #306: You're A Famous Author, Whats The Name Of Your Book?

My book is a young adult romantic fantasy novel. I named it "We'll Meet Under the New Moon at Harry Potter's House." I figure this might draw some attention on the shelves at the bookstore. Not a bad idea, am I right.

Extra Credit: Write the opening paragraph of your best-seller!

Here is a taste:

Katie wanted Harry Potter bad. Really bad. It was like that time when she saw the

commercial for the new Porsche and wanted it but couldn't have it. But even worse. Much worse.

Even though she never talked to him, she new she loved him. Maybe it was the cute scar on

his head, or the fact that he turned Evil Sheila into a newt. She wasn't sure, but whatever

it was, she loved him for it. Sure, it could be a spell he cast on her, but that didn't matter.

What mattered was she loved him and she couldn't have him. In other words, she was sad.

Also, she thought her life seemed a little like that Romeo and Juliet thing she had to read

for Mrs. Johnson's class. Ick. She hated that class. And Mrs. Johnson. She hated them both.

Also, her parents, she didn't like them much either. They always made her do stuff. Ugh, stuff!

Riveting, no? Makes you want to go out and buy it, doesn't it?

(I apologize to all the women out there. I'm not making fun of teenage girls. Really.)

Even clone troopers get the blues.

Feeling blue? You need a vacation.
Originally uploaded by Mike F.

It's been a long winter here, but some planets in the galaxy are ice planets. Just imagine how the clone troopers that work there feel. I think this picture tells their story perfectly.


No, I don't need a vacation. Why do you ask?