276-281 Updating

Haven't updated in a long, long time. I have too much going on in my life to do that. I sure wish I could get a break. I don't know how I pissed off the universe, but it seems that I did somewhere along the line. I'm trying to keep busy so that I don't go nuts. Here are some pictures that I've been taking on my outings:

275 Lipstick

This is a pretty common scene Monday-Friday over on my desk. I have my books piled up that I need to work with, my papers that need to be graded or copied, and a general mountain of random odds and ends that need to be taken care of eventually. I have to pile all of this up because I have 1st hour prep period and another teacher uses my room during that time.

 The most important thing on that desk to me is the coffee cup. Every morning, because I am too lazy or disorganized to make it myself, I make a run to one of three places for the largest cup of coffee I can find. My favorite coffee comes from McDonald's- I could be one of those old men that hang out in the morning and have a cup of coffee to start the day known as "the regulars". After that, I guess my choice would be Starbuck's. I don't do anything fancy, just regular coffee with extra cream because I think Starbuck's coffee is too bitter, so I have to lighten it up a bit. My third choice is the gas station and I don't mind their coffee at all, but I just hate to have to get up and get my own.

 Notice the lipstick on that mug? Yep, I actually start out wearing makeup each morning, but somehow it manages to disappear slowly from my face during the day and so by the time I come home, I want to hide from myself and avoid all mirrors. Not sure how that happens, because I try to avoid touching my face. ?

272-274 Eagles with Paige

Today went out "eagle hunting" with Paige. I love looking through the trees and getting all excited when seeing one! I wish this year was a little colder because there aren't many in the area. I didn't think we would be successful at all, but we did see about 5-6 of them. I didn't rent an awesome lens this year, I just used my old Canon 75-300 lens. It doesn't have the lens stabilization on it, but because it was bright outside today, I had some fast shutter speeds going. This lens isn't very sharp anyway. Oh well, one day I'll have some L glass!

270-271 Slutty Brownies from Pinterest

I actually got off of pinterest long enough to try one of the things that I had pinned. Today I tried the Slutty Browniesrecipe. I'm not sure why it's called that, but it wasn't too hard and they taste pretty good.


First, make chocolate chip cookie dough as usual and spread it out in the cake pan like a cookie cake. Add a layer of oreos. Make a brownie mix as directed and spread that out over the oreos. I think I used too large of a pan because neither the cookie dough or the brownie mixes wanted to go all the way to the edge of the pan. It was a little bit of a task to get the brownies to spread because the mix that I chose was a little thicker than it should have been and I had to spread it out and hold the oreos down at the same time.


 


 Anyway, they were yum. I think I'd like to add some chocolate syrup or hot fudge in there too and then they would REALLY be slutty...

 However the most exciting news is that I took the pictures with my new lens! I found a Tamron 24-70 f2.8 lens on Craigslist. The guy was originally asking $400 a couple of weeks ago and then this week he went to $375. I talked him into $325 and went and bought it today! This will be a nice lens for portraits and also for weddings. The last wedding I did, I rented a similar canon lens for the wide aperture and I liked it a lot. Hopefully I'll be using this lens quite a bit in the weeks to come.

268-269 My Dad and his surgery

It is really rough when you see someone that you love with all of your heart going through something very painful.  About 4 months ago, my Dad found out that he had a cavernous hemangioma in his spinal cord in the c-2, c-3, c-4 area.  He was in a lot of pain all of the time, it kept getting worse and if he didn't have it removed, he would either be paralyzed or possibly die.  Of course, the surgery was very dangerous and those things could have happened on the table too.

After much worry and a few disputes with the doctors, surgery was scheduled.

That morning, Friday, January 13, 2012 was a very scary day.  I can only imagine being him in this situation.  I think I had been holding all of my nervous fears inside, because after I had to say goodbye to him, knowing it could possibly be the last time, I burst into tears on my way down in the elevator.  Thank goodness my Aunt Linda was down there to calm me down.

After about 3 hours, we were told that he was out of surgery and in the recovery room.  As I made my way up there, I was hoping that he would be normal.  He was up there moving his toes and his fingers and could see us just fine.  He talked and could feel us when we held his hand.  Of course, there had been a few more outbursts of tears of relief when we heard from the doctors and then got to see him.

The hospital messed up a catheter and he struggled with that quite a bit, but finally got to go home on some good medicine.

Here he is- my hero:




And here is another hero of mine taking care of him:



Staying in the hospital as a patient sucks.  Being there as a visitor is not a cakewalk either, though.  After sitting on hard chairs, sleeping in odd places and being a bundle of nerves, I took a much-needed break today and stayed home from work.  I slept until about 11:00am...I guess I needed the day.
Now, we just have to get my Mom fixed and hopefully they can just enjoy life for a while!

256- 267 Chicago Christmas display

While in Chicago, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. I had never been there before, but it was actually quite fascinating. {Of course, my fascination only lasted through the big scene in the cafeteria...} Before the getaway was absolutely ruined, I managed to see the Christmas Around the World display at the MSI. The different culture groups in Chicago each decorated a tree for the display that represents their culture. Unfortunately, tripods were not allowed, so that led to shots that were less than spectacular, but I still really enjoyed the display. Here are the favorite pictures that I got at this exhibit:


 My absolute favorite tree was the Japanese tree. I must find out how to make these paper ornaments!


 

 Of course, I had to make a stop at the Mexican tree:


 I don't remember what tree the stars were on, but it was really sparkly and pretty too:


This tree was pretty with gold and purple.


Same view, two different focus points:

  I think these decorations added more to the room than anything else:

Chicago in December 250-255

I'm so happy to be out of the cornfield! I love Chicago and would move here in a heart beat except everything is so expensive and I don't think that finding a job as a Spanish teacher in Chicago would be the best move for me. I could definitely see me trying something new though, but what? I am always torn between my two loves of places to visit. I either want the biggest city with all sorts of culture and restaurants and places to go every night of the week, or...I want a beautiful beach that's sort of secluded with nothing but me, a little shack, an internet connection and a shower (or a waterfall that would serve as my shower...) If you find that place that lets me have the best of both worlds, please let me know. I also need the temp to stay between 68 and 78 degrees, year- round. Anyway, I'm in the city right now and we had quite the eventful day yesterday. First, we made it to Chicago by noon and went to Gino's East for lunch. Then, we strolled down Michigan Avenue until the kids spotted the Lego store and so we went there for a while. Then, we took a taxi over to the Briar Street Theater for the 5:00 show at Blue Man Group. We got there way too early and stopped for some hot chocolate/ coffee to take up some time, but couldn't find anywhere to sit, so we went strolling over in that area. Went to Blue Man Group, and it's such an amazing show! The kids really seemed to like it and so that was a good time. After that, we went up the Hancock tower so I could take some city shots at night. Then we went to dinner at an Irish Pub around the corner from our hotel and then we went strolling up and down Michigan Avenue again for some night shots of the Christmas lights. Here are some shots I got yesterday: The kids at the Lego Store. I asked if they wanted to go to the American Girl store, but no takers:


 Me and the kids at Blue Man--- obviously, I didn't take this one...


A shot from up in Hancock. There were so many glares on the windows it was hard to get anything too amazing.

 

Here's a wider shot.  Oh, city, how I love thee.



 An awesome {in my opinion} shot of the river. This is a bit of a long exposure, about 5 seconds, and the wind was whipping through the place, so it's not perfect, but I still like it.




Another long exposure standing in the middle of Michigan Avenue:


And one more shot of Michigan Avenue, a long exposure with a taxi that was standing still. Notice the door? A person got in the taxi, but you can't see the person because of the long exposure.


That's it for now. I still have many more pictures from today and we have a big day ahead of us!