Two years...

Today is me and Steve's two year anniversary. I can't believe it's been two years as it seems like yesterday that we got married. Even though my family wasn't able to attend (and Steve's family did, hehe) it was a great day. I married my best friend and I feel so lucky to have met such a wonderful man as Steve. So many people who came together from far and near to make our day so special. Mark, what you did for us was amazing and I love the photo's. The three with us and Baby always make us smile and I feel that the photo's represent the slightly quirky side of me and Steve. The officiant, Steven T. and his wife were also great. They understood what we wanted and were as enthusiastic as we were over the vows we chose. They made us feel like we were important and fit in, which is not an easy task when you are an atheist in the Bible Belt. I am hoping that at some point we can re-new our vows so my family can be a part of our marriage celebration. I feel that no matter what life throws at me I will be able to make it through with Steve by my side. I took one of our wedding photo's and with the help of PSP designed a graphic for Steve. Here it is...

photo of Steve

Last night I was goofin around with the camera and took a few pics of Steve. My favorite photo ended up being over exposed. I had set everything ok and then I moved in closer to him and forgot to reset the camera, D'OH! Anyway, I put an 1800's style effect on the photo and adjusted the brightness/contrast. I love this photo of him, he looks amazing. The photo is still over exposed but with the few changes I made I really like the effect. Here it is.

Random photos I have taken

Here are some photo's I've taken that I found while organizing my files.






My mom was not amused to find my brother's cat Izzy in her cabinet.




A cute lil chipmunk on our family trip to Look Park



A photo of a rose done in macro. I didn't even realize there was a water drop;et until I uploaded the photo.



Pretty Fall foliage in New England.



I guess this one is self explanatory. I loved the bright colors and the contrast of the orange sign against the green.

Baby 'Tooth

I am always amazed at the simple joy owning a pet can bring into your life. Once again Baby is the focus of this picture. I was experimenting with my camera settings since I finally "get" white balance. This was my favorite shot from them all... and of course it's in B&W as that is my favorite format to photograph.

OOPS: I forgot to re size the original so if you click it it's going to be ginormous.

Accident prone

Well it's been almost 2 months since I slipped on the ice and very ungracefully fell down the stairs at my apartment. I have still been having some lingering hip pain from that fall. Today I went to get the mail and then I was going to get in my moms van to take my niece to the doctor.

Side note: She was very sick Fri night. Fever of 103, lethargic, a wee bit delirious, achy and sore throat. We took her to the ER Sat evening and they said she had Step throat and started her on an antibiotic. Sun evening she broke out in a rash so my mom called the ER and they said to stop the antibiotic and to send her to her regular doctor on Monday.

So I'm walking from the front of the apartment to the side driveway to get into the van when I slipped on a patch of ice and went down. Not only did I go down I slid underneath the damn van. I finally extricate myself from under the van, get up and manage to crawl into the drivers side of the van when I am greeted with peals of laughter from my niece. I looked at her and said "Calley, it's not funny I could have been seriously hurt". Her reply "Auntie it looked funny. One moment you were standing there and the next you weren't!" I am so glad that I was able to provide some entertainment to her today.

Another Side note: Her regular doc said not to worry about the rash. She said that Calla not only had Strep but a virus that some kids get at the same time as strep and is diagnosed by the rash. She started back on the antibiotics and can return to school tomorrow much to her chagrin. I told her karma will always win and that's what happens when you laugh at auntie falling on her bahookie, hehe.

So once again I hurt my hip on the left side and also my ankle. There is a weird painful bump on the outer part of my knee which feels like bone that shouldn't be there. I know that I will be more sore tomorrow which I learned on my previous excursion on the ice. I'm just wondering what mishap will befall me in another two months...

I love these photos

I was Stumbling the other day and came across a web site that had some breath taking photography. The photographer's name is Nick Brandt (from the UK). You can see the photo's HERE. The impact of these photo's on me was almost overwhelming. Why people believe that humans are superior is beyond me. I wish I had the money to buy some prints.

Feels like Spring

Ok, maybe not quite like Spring but today the temperature is about 25 degrees F. Since we have been averaging -10 degrees F today does seem really warm. We got about 5 more inches of snow so everything has a freshly painted look to it again. I really need to go out and start taking some photos. However, when it's as cold as it has been the batteries in my camera die a quick death. Guess I need to buy a sweater for my camera...

Frustrated

I am so frustrated with doctors right now. Steve has been having extreme pain in his leg. Pain that is so bad that he can only sleep for a couple hours a night and that's not even a continuous 2 hours. His leg will start having spasms and he breaks out in a sweat when it gets real bad. I try to massage the leg to ease the rigidity of the muscle but it's hard for me to do it well. The doctor prescribed him a muscle relaxant that I think may help to ease the spams a bit but no one is interested in the underlying cause of the problem. I will be setting up an appointment with a podiatrist for Steve since he's diabetic and needs to have his feet looked at. While I'm at the appointment I'm going to ask the podiatrist to please look into what could be causing the problem. IMO it's not the muscles but a tendon problem in his ankle. His foot turns outward, he has little arch on that foot and has almost no movement at all in that ankle. He can barely walk, he needs help in the shower because he can't stand long enough to do it by himself. It breaks m,y heart to see all the pain he is in and the limitations it has put on him. He needs to be on some sort of pain medication so he can at least get some damn sleep. This has been an ongoing problem for as long as I have known him (going on 8 years now) and not one doctor seems concerned. The only person he saw that has been concerned was a physical therapist who worked with him for a couple months and made the comment that she couldn't believe that he was even able to walk because of the deterioration of the ankle. He's only 35 years old and I don't want him to end up in a wheelchair or something because the doctors won't further investigate the underlying problem. I want to scream, cry and or strangle the ever loving shit out of someone. Steve has endured enough in his life and I dopn't want him to have to deal with this pain for years more.

Merry Christmas... a wee bit early

I figured I would wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays now before I forget. I've been so busy these last few days my brain is numb. Here is a Christmas pic I took of me and Steve. It's not very good but the timer on the camera doesn't last long and I kept tripping on Steve's feet trying to get back into place. I am so uncoordinated, hehe.




This next picture is of Baby 'Tooth. She found the gift we got her early but she loves it. It's a cat nip pillow.






We hope that everyone has a very happy holiday and a great new year.

I want to make a difference

I've been wanting to get back into the workforce for a while now. I'm frustrated because many jobs now want you to have a degree and I don't have one. If they don't want a degree they want you to have a solid work history which I also don't have since I've been out of work for 7 years. I saw a job listing today for people to work with developmentally delayed adults helping them learn skills. I know I would be great at this job because I love helping people. I feel good about myself when I can help someone, when I can make them realize that someone does care about them and make a difference in their life. I worked in a nursing home as a CNA for 4 years and even though the pay sucked I loved my job. Knowing that by helping these men and women I cared for feel valued made me feel great. I became close with many of the people I cared for during that time. It wasn't just a job to me. I would sit and visit with them, I valued their opinion and made them feel good about themselves. I had one family who told me that I was the only one that they had trusted with their father's care. Another family told me that their mom loved me like I was her grandaughter because I took such good care of her and treated her with respect and dignity. The people I took care of weren't just patients to me they became and extended family of sorts. After I left that job I received a message from my gramma (who worked at the same nursing home as I did) and she told me one of the people I cared for was dying and she asked if I could go visit her. This was 2 years after I stopped working there. I went to see her and spent about 30 mins with her before she became too tired to visit and I left. Two days later she passed away. I received a message from the head nurse that stated the lady was so happy that I had come to visit her and thanked me. My sister had come along on that visit and as we were leaving she said that she couldn't believe how good I was dealing with the patients. Several people came up to me while I was their and hugged me and said they missed me. It's was amazing to me that they would remember me after two years and be so excited to see me. It was then that I truly realized how much of a difference I did make in their lives. I don't think that having a degree will make you better at this type of job than someone who doesn't have a degree. A degree doesn't give you the character to be successful at this type of job. However, being kind, devoted to those you are caring for and respectful is. Knowing that everyone, no matter what their lot in life is, deserves to be treated with dignity and to know that they are cared for is important. I just want the chance to make a difference in someone's life once again...