29 Mar 2010

Another day of work..

But it was a nice day outside so I played outside with the boys after I got home from work and took the opportunity to get my 50mm out for some shots. I asked MasterJ to pull some funny faces for me, the above storyboard shows the results!!!

I did get a nice shot of him that I like (below).

28 Mar 2010

Today MasterJ has been a challenge. Being hyperactive and generally naughty all day. THen when told off his gets so angry that he lashes out, throughs himself on the floor or into whatever is closest......these must be proper tantrums. Not happy about this and not really sure on what technique to use to get over it - so here's a new challenge to overcome!

MasterJ's friend came to play and todays PAD is of them having some fun on the trampoline.

I made a banana cake and some chocolate muffins. The banana cake turned out well, but I forgot to put the sugar in the muffings ----ugggghhhhhhhh---- they are revolting. I blame it on AuntyC as she turned up as I was making them and made me forget to put the sugar in!! The dog liked them though :-D

27 Mar 2010

Not much to write today. I had a 10am to 10pm scrapping day, so it was a productive day from that point of view. The boys didn't go swimming due to the amount of snot they are currently producing.

I completely forgot about PAD until late in the day, so the PAD is a shot of one of my scrapped pages!

26 Mar 2010

Today MrJ went to do his V8 drive that the boys bought him for christmas. It was the second time he has done it, so this time around he was straight into it, wasting no time putting his foot down for the laps! Of course it was an excellent opportunity for some piccie taking :-D THe one above I chose for my pic of the day and the two below were two that I did as HDR's.

This afternoon I took MasterJ for his first dentist visit. He did pretty good, he sat in the chair and opened his mouth a couple of times so she could see in. She didn't get a great look as he started whinging and squirming. But she saw enough to say they look good, he has all his baby teeth and that it is crowded with baby teeth, so is likely to be overcrowded with adult teeth and will most probably need braces....hardly surprising since I also have overcrowding!

I also had my check up which was all good and she took moulds for a mouthgard for me for hockey :-D

25 Mar 2010

There was a party day on at the rec centre where the boys go to kindy gym this morning. So they went to kindy gym and we stayed around for the "party". It was a showcase of activities in the Kwinana area. They got to do some dancing, colouring in, craft etc all for a gold coin donation. It must have worn MasterJ out because he slept for an hout and a half today!!! He also went to bed in jocks and was dry and clean....yay!!

I also did the grocery shopping and went out to take some more piccies. I went back to the road I found the burnt out wreck on last night as there was another wreck that I thought would look good during the day with the cloud. That is the picture above and is my PAD. I did stop and take a pic of a local park aswell - not sure about the result of that one (below)

24 Mar 2010

Last working day of the week - yehaaaaaaa....

Another good day at school for the boys and MrJ had done all the washing without prompting today (Y)

I took off early for hockey to try and get some graffiti photos for this weeks challenge. The photo below is my entry for graffiti - I must say I am disappointed in the lack of artistic graffiti around here - I found it hard to find any!!! While on my travels I found this burnt out car that I thought would make a good HDR. That is the photo above and is my PAD.



Hockey training was ok - it was a bit hodge podge and have to say that it is probably worse SINCE we got a coach!! Anyway, games start in a couple of weeks and I think I will be playing in DIV4 - even that is probably too high for my ability! Ahhh what the heck, it's fun and keeps me fit!!

23 Mar 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

Hmmmmm another frustrating day today. Talking to my boss is like talking to a brick wall in every way...

On a lighter note I came home to a beautifully clean house :-D............no.......don't be fooled it wasn't MRJ that did it, I paid good money to get it!!! And I am going to pay again, and again and again!!

The boys both had a good day at school. MasterJ was back in the toddler room today and was good again.

Once the boys had gone to bed we got the camera out on the telescope and finally got a shot of the moon! I got bitten to death in the first 5 seconds of being outside and we only got a couple of photos before the misty cloud came across. Anyway one was enough for my PAD.

22 Mar 2010

I'm really starting to question this working situation....not enjoying going to work at all!

I seemed to be racing a storm home from work this afternoon and sure enough, about 30 minutes after getting home it started and it was AWESOME. It went for a couple of hours, massive thunder and lightening strikes and lots of rain!! MasterJ was scared out of his skin and MasterA didn't even flinch - strange as I would have thought it would have been the other way around!!

So I was unable to get outside to do any photos, I ended up snapping one of MasterA looking pretty smug walking around with his walker. It was a pretty ordinary photo and I had to use the flash, so I played around with it in photoshop, hence the effect!!

I tidied up the house a bit as our cleaner is coming tomorrow for the first time! It is going to be interesting to see if he can get everything done in 2 hours....I don't think it is possible...LOL It will be nice to have a clean house that I haven't had to do!!!

21 Mar 10

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!!!!

I took the boys to a little friends 3rd birthday party this morning. It was at Caterpillar Park in Mandurah. What an awesome park!! It is a MASSIVE enclosed area with heaps for the kids to do and can run around without fear of them being able to get out. We will definately be visiting there again! They boys had a ball and both fell asleep in the car on the way home. This was not a good thing for MasterA as he decided that he had all the sleep he needed in that 10 minutes and refused to go to bed!!! I did take lots of photos today, but my PAD was one of my favourites, just because it was a nice moment.

Now, this afternoon was a momentous occasion in our lives. We went to meet MrJ's eldest daughter. He has not had any contact with her for 11 years due to a nasty divorce and all that goes along with that. We have always hoped that his kids will contact him when they are ready and it happened this week. She emailed him during the week saying that she wanted to put the past behind them and she wants to be a part of our lives and vice-versa. So we all went up to Freo to meet up. Of course there were some doubts about alteria motives etc, but there was none of that. She was lovely, open and honest and we spent a good couple of hours chatting away. It is a really positive start and I hope that it all turns out well and that his other kids come around in their own time! :-D

20 Mar 2010

Busy morning this morning with swimming lessons - they are only going to get busier in a few weeks when we add soccer into the mix for MasterJ!! They both did great this morning, MasterA only had one tiny whinge and was happy the rest of the time and MasterJ just gets better and better. He is being moved into the Tadpole advanced class - which is above his age, but his ability is at a level where I no longer have to be in the pool with him.

THis afternoon was just relaxing (???) if that is possible, around the house, inside and out!

The plan was to get out with the camera and telescope tonight and get some shots of the moon and some star trails etc....BUT when we went out after dark it is overcast :-( SO I had to come up with something for PAD so I took the one above of MrJ's radio antenna. Bit boring, but again it fills the spot for today!!

19 Mar 2010

I had to get the grocery shopping done today. The plan was to go and wander around the shops, have morning tea and do the groceries. But as it eventuated I couldn't be bothered to do the groceries with everyone in tow. So we came home and had lunch and I went and did the groceries while the boys slept.

MasterJ played outside in the afternoon, where I got todays PAD from. He is getting more confident on his big bike and is starting to "glide" a little bit.

I went out for an evening of scrapbooking - I didn't get as much done as I would have liked and should probably have gone to bed early!!

18 Mar 2010

Today was an extra day of work. I had to attend a "Leadership" training day. It was kind of like teaching the Pope how to pray, but I had to go.

The morning was very interesting as they had all of us (20 people) complete the Myer-Briggs (sp) personality profile. The whole morning was about learning our own type and each others and how to interact with the different types. I was an ESTP - if I had more time and inclination I would explain what that means but I don't :-P The interesting thing was that I was the ONLY person of this type out of the 20 people and the only person in the "yellow" zone. Also, I was borderline on the STP, which means that I can easily move either way depending on what the situation calls for - exactly what I need to be able to do in my job. So it was good confirmation that I am in the right line of work :-) The afternoon's content was a little wasted for me as it is what I teach.

It was an interesting day from the perspective of the group dynamics. It has given me an insight into how some of the people tick, so I can employ the necessary influencing techniques to get what I need done! It was also a LONG day. I caught the train and bus and left about 630am and got home about 630pm. So for PAD I just took a picture of the assessment result I was given on the MBTI.

17 Mar 2010

Work......

and....

HOCKEY training!!!!

Oh and MasterJ's first day in the Kindy room at daycare.....and it didn't go so well :-/ When I got there he was sitting on the bench on his own. Apparantly he had been playing with his friend all day - they haven't been in the same room together for a little while, but did play together when they were outside. Anyway, they were rough and overexcited all day and it ended in them biting each other. He was also hitting and throwing shovels at others. So, I'm not sure what made him such a naughty boy, but we had stern words with him and need to reiterate that before school next week. I'm not sure if it was because it was new and different, or just overexcited or...I dunno really?

We had a coach at training tonight for the first time and it was HARD work - but good at the same time. I am really enjoying it.

Time for PAD was hard again - so I took the camera out with me to Hockey with the aim to get a night shot somewhere afterwards. I ended up taking a pic of the phone box - I think it turned out ok.

16 Mar 2010

Meh meh meh.......

Got home from work today and MrJ was playing around with his telescope. He has had it for a year and it has barely made it out of the shed. He got the camera attachment working and we attached the camera to it. It was pretty cool! I took todays PAD and processed it as an HDR. So the actual telescope picture is my PAD. While we were playing around I took a shot of the top of a 22kV power pole that was about 40m away and up high. The telescope has a focal length of 2500mm and an f stop of 10. So the end result is actually a macro! I may use this for my abstract macro submission for this months club theme.


Looking at the telescope lens was pretty awesome and I played around taking shots for the weekly theme of reflection - and this is what I ended up with - how many reflections can you see?


It looks like MasterJ is about to move up to the Kindy room at school which I think will do him good. He will be mixed with bigger kids as well as his little friends that he talks about all the time and who must've moved up recently. Should be interesting when we pick him up tomorrow to see how he went!

15 Mar 2010

It is getting increasingly harder getting out of bed to go to work...and it's only been 7 weeks?? Oh well!

So another ho hum work day. Got home a bit before 4 and MasterA was asleep so I took MasterJ outside and he rode his bike and scooter and ran around manically! He did eat his dinner really well, so maybe this needs to happen every night before dinner!

I took the camera outside while he was playing and I was trying to find inspiration for this months club challenge of "Abstract Macro", but I couldn't get my mind into gear. So todays PAD is one of the lack lustre pics I did take, but there is really no abstract or macro involved lol

14 Mar 2010

My walking alarm clock climbed onto our bed at 530 this morning. After 5 minutes of wriggling around we heard a massive bang outside and the power went off. Turns out that a high voltage breaker had tripped. The hotline said it would be fixed by 10am. MrJ had an open day at the radio club, so he took off there. I decided to take the kids on a road trip and take advantage of the overcast weather for photography.

So we headed inland to get some country shots and we ended up at Serpentine Dam where we had some morning tea! By the time we got home at 11am the power was back on. From the clocks, it looks like it came back about 1030.

I did have plans to wash bedding and vacuum the house this morning. So while the boys were chomping their lunch I zooshed the vacuum cleaner around the house. While in bed, I got to looking at the photos and tinkering around with HDR (high dynamic range)I have 5 HDR photos that I am happy with from today and think I am starting to get a handle on it. Since I have 5 that I like I am putting them all on here :-P as my PAD!!!

This afternoon I took MasterJ down the foreshore where he played with his friend MasterS on the beach and then the park. We had a BBQ kindly cooked by UncleB and the boys had a blast. I held back on taking the camera - BUT - oh the clouds at sunset were awesome :-( Oh well, I suppose there will be another day.


Sad news today - my Grandma in England passed away overnight. She has been in a nursing home for some 10 years and has had very little quality of life. It is not known how much she was actually aware of in the last few years so I have to think she is in a better place now. RIP Grandma.

13 Mar 2010

We wagged swimming today and I spent all day at a scrapbooking event. I did come home at dinner time to help with the kidlets, but went back and scrapped until 10pm!

I managed to get 22 pages completed - all of MasterA. I was getting lots of comments about how good the photos were, so that was nice :-D

PAD today is from this morning. MasterJ got a Batman outfit for christmas and had never worn it. So I put it on him and he went even more troppo than usual. He thought the cape and mask gave him the power to fly like batman (naturally). What was I thinking????

12 March 2010

UGH...what a revoltingly hot day.... and a busy one!!!

It started with a 440am wake up call....shouldn't a nearly 3 year old understand the concept that - pitch black = night time = should be asleep???

Then early morning grocery shopping with both boys :-S....then birthday card and present shopping and printing of 6 months worth of photos completely boyless :-D....then waxing....then taking some photos.....then dinner etc etc etc

I got presents for 4 kids upcoming birthdays and my Nana and brother whose birthdays are next week.

Note to self - do not save up 6 months of photos to print out in one go. Kmart's photo things were being upgraded, so I spent an hour standing up in a stinking hot Harvey Norman printing them out .....grrrrrr

Since it was horribly yucky outside and I had been out and about most of the day, I just played around with my macro lens inside.So todays PAD comes from that little play.

11 March 2010

Not feeling too sore this morning - in fact I think I hurt more straight after training last night than I have today! I want to try and get to the gym tomorrow just to loosen things up again. I will have to see how I go as I have a heap of stuff I need to do!

So we went to kindygym this morning and straight after had the doctors appointment for MasterA and myself. MasterA has been having pain when pooing for a while and also keeps refluxing into his mouth throughout the day. Turns out he has a fissure, so we have some cream to treat that. As far as the reflux goes the doc thinks it could be diet related. So we have to cut back on dairy, heavy fibres like weetbix and most fruit and make his diet richer in other fibre from veggies etc and more fluids. He thinks his poos may be too big and caused the fissure because he heats too much and too much of the "bulky" stuff. So we're going to give changing his diet a go and see what happens.

We went off to the shops to get some medicare refunds and got MasterJ to try out a pedal bike in Kmart - but he can't seem to get the hang of pushing the pedals with his feet. Need to get him working on that if he is going to ride a "normal" bike!!!

PAD today is from kindygym this morning. The few photos I took were crapola, so I played around with some effects and ended up with lizard skin on this photo.

Also, this morning (since I was up at 430am - thanks MasterA) I managed to try out my idea for the theme "myself". I am happy with the result and here it is:

10 Mar 2010

Yawn....this working stuff is getting pretty boring. Completely lost interest around lunch time today so suffered my way through the afternoon!!!

I went off to hockey training and about 10metres into the warm up jog my left glutes started hurting then everthing started - butt, hammies and whatever the muscles are on the inside at the top of you legs. Anyway I battled through because I refuse to give up!! I just was not able to run as much as I would have liked to have to keep up with the game - but hopefully this will all get better over the next few weeks if I keep at it!

PAD today was just a happy snap I got of cheeky MasterA climbing up onto MrJ's chair. I also played around with some self portrait shots for this weeks theme of "Myself" - I have an idea on what I would like to do with them, I just have to see if it will work out!

9 Mar 2010

Another day at work today. I decided to go across to the park to see if I could take a snap on my p&s for PAD and it was all a tad boring. So the PAD isn't very interesting, but at least I made an effort to get one!!!

Photography club tonight and there was a guest judge from Mandurah. It was really good because he gave feedback and critique as part of his judging. Although a littl long winded I learnt some new stuff!! :-D

Oh - and MrJ locked himself out of the house this morning ROFL He took the kids to daycare and when he got home realised he had picked up his spare car keys - no house key!! He rang me from the neighbours and had to come all the way up to work to get my keys!!

8 Mar 2010

Hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go.......

Yep - Monday = work and all pretty ho hum really! I did find it hard to get going today at work and it wasn't until the afternoon that I felt like I was getting somewhere, then before I knew it 3pm was upon me and time to go home!!!

I went to the gym straight after work and it was good to have a bit of a work out after hockey last week. Everything still seems to be in working order, still a little tender in places so I hope everything is fully repaired before training this Weds!!

The boys were in good spirits when I got home, although I am getting the impression that MrJ is thinking that staying at home with the kidlets is not all it's cracked up to be.....maybe a return to work is imminent???? :-D

I was a bit strapped for PAD today as all my time when I got home was taken up mucking around with the boys, dinners, baths etc So I thought that this was a bit of fun! It is the current running mystery in the house!!



I registered for the WAPF convention tonight - with one day left to register (nothing like leaving it til the last minute!!) and now I must be off and pay some bills before I forget about them and they become overdue!

7 Mar 2010

Washer woman day! I did all the washing except for the bedding - shall be requesting MrJ does that while I am at work.

The boys went outside for a play this morning and MasterJ actually rode his bike that he got for his birthday last May for the first time. A couple of reasons why it has taken so long. One is that he couldn't sit on it and be flat footed and the other was he didn't want to ride it. So today he rode it for quite some time. It is a glide to ride bike, so he isn't technically "riding" it. I am hoping he will get as confident on this as he is and always has been on his 3 wheeler plastic bike, so when we add pedals the balance should be there.



MasterA is not mastering the 3 wheeler like MasterJ did. He just sits on it and goes backwards, then flops of and crawls around!! Anyway, they had fun and it was a great opportunity to take some photos. So there were heaps that I liked after playing with them in photoshop so I will post a few!! :-D



MasterA has been particularly sooky today. I think he's a bit under the weather. Both boys have had a steady stream of snot going all day!!



This afternoon we all went down the foreshore for a walk and the boys played in the park - they had a ball. Not that I think it will make them sleep longer!! It doesn't matter to me as I have to be up early for work tomorrow!!

6 Mar 2010

Swimming this morning and both boys are still going great guns. It looks like I may have issues getting MasterJ in next term since he is now enrolled to start soccer at 9am on a Sat morning. But we'll have to wait and see what is available.

I wanted to try playing around with more HDR photos, so today I shot in RAW and tried to do some panning to get motion shots. This is the one I ended up processing and choosing for my PAD. I also used it to replace my entry for this weeks theme of motion.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house a bit and uploading photos to another website calle redbubble. Already I have had some good comments and I still have some more I want to upload :-D

5 Mar 2010

Everybody's hair was thankful to see today come as we all desperately needed haircuts! So it was the regular 5-6weekly trip to Bunbury to make ourselves boofuls again!! Today's PAD comes from the activities at our hairdressers salon!!

This afternoon I went to the Stargate Shopping Centre to meet Paul Papalia and see the other winning entries in the My Community - Life in the Electorate of Warnbro photography competition. I was a bit surprised at some of the shots that had been chosen based on quality and on what it had to do with the theme. But anyway, all three of my photos were commended and I received 2 bottles of wine for my troubles:-D
Here is a shot of me and the other person who had commended photos with Paul Papalia.

Once the kiddies had had their dinner I took off to do some scrapping for the night.

MrJ had his band filled for the first time today, so it should be interesting to see how he goes with that!!

4 Mar 10

Ouch....ahhh....owwww....ooo....ouch

Yep - I am SORE and I will only get sorer over the next 24 hours!! But it's a good sore as it means that I worked hard last night :-D

Took the boys to kindy gym this morning, then off to the shops for morning tea and to grab some nappies! This afternoon we went grocery shopping and had a swim. It is great to see MasterA still loving the water. I think I will try him out in a floaty suit this weekend and see how he goes.

Today I decided I would look into HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. So I downloaded the sofware, read a few tutorials and got out and took a heap of photos. It soon became apparant that taking photos with things that move adds a whole extra level of complexity and since I am just starting out to learn I decided I needed a stationary object. So MrJ's car it was!!

I spent 2 hours trying to get the photo to look like other HDR photos I have seen, but I couldn't. I don't know if it is because of the original lighting/composition of my photo or if I have to do further processing in order to achieve that finish that looks almost like a drawing. Anyway, I am happy with the final finish of this one, and it is my PAD.

3 Mar 2010

Wow - what a day. Yesterday seemed to be a good day at work and I felt like some goals were getting kicked. Today I came away deflated and frustrated again.......I have a boss that seems to change his mind every 5 seconds and decide there is something new he wants us to work on.....grrrrr

Anyway my frustrations from work were quickly squashed when I received an email from the Rockingham Photo Club saying that 2 of my images have been selected to be a part of the 15 photos to represent the club in the interclub competition being held for the WAPF Convention in April. I was stoked!! So here are the 2 photos that they have chosen. Now I will HAVE to go to the convention - great excuse eh?

After that bit of good news it was off to hockey training for the first time in....ummm 15 years!!! WHAT A WORK OUT!! But I loved every minute of it. I loved the fact that I was doing something physical and exercising and I loved the fact I was part of a team and I loved the fact that I had an outlet for my competetive beast!!! So needless to say, I will be joining up and am completely looking forward to it! I was knackered and struggled to keep up and was constantly out of breath, but continuation of training and the gym should fix this - BRING IT ON!

On the way to hockey the sun was setting and the sprinklers were on over one of the market gardens. It looked awesome and I didn't have either camera on me. But I did have my iPhone. It turned out to be a really crappy shot, nothing like I could have got with my D90 and more time!! So I processed the hell out of it in Photoshop to make it a bit more appealing.
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Mar 3

On the way to hockey the sun was setting and the sprinklers were on over one of the market gardens. It looked awesome and I didn't have either camera on me. But I did have my iPhone. It turned out to be a really crappy shot, nothing like I could have got with my D90 and more time!! So I processed the hell out of it in Photoshop to make it a bit more appealing and it is my PAD.

2 Mar 2010

YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWNNNNNN!!!!

As if setting the alarm clock for 530am isn't early enough....I get robbed of that final half hour by a little nearly 3yo alarm at 5am.......it is tempting to lock the door again!!

I knew today was going to be a long day as I had meetings from 1-330pm and then had to meet with a consultant after that. So even though I was at work just after 630am I knew I wouldn't be getting home until after 6pm. Anyway, it was a productive day. I feel like I may be kicking some goals. Time will tell how my advice and opinions will be received!! Now all I need is approval on 2 projects to go ahead and we can get in and showcase what we do best!

Due to the long day today I knew PAD would be a challenge so today's PAD is pretty crappy, but at least it means I haven't missed a day!! So this is what greeted me on my desk this morning. The "HR Pixies" had visited and left me a backpack, a compendium, a memory stick, a business card holder, a drink mug with spoon and a glass. It was a nice start to my day :-D



Oh and I almost forgot....I got a call from Paul Paplia's offices this afternoon about the photos I submitted in the "My Community - Life in the Warnbro Electorate". Apparantly I have received commendations for all 3 of my entries!! I'm not sure that I actually receive anything for the commendations, but I am stoked with the recognition in itself! THey will be on display at a shopping centre on Friday and the winner will be awarded their prize and commendations announced at 4pm. So I will have to go along and shake the mans hand and check out the competition to see what won!! WOOT WOOT!!!

Oh and I have decided to give hockey a go. So tomorrow night I am off to check it out at training - I wonder what state I will be in on Thursday!!!

1 Mar 2010

Far out, will this heat ever let up? Driest summer on record, equal hottest with 1977/78 and still more to come...enough thanks!!!

Needless to say, much time was spent in the pool today. MrJ was out on the boat with Uncle Bobby and friends came round for a swim this morning. MasterJ got to play with his buddy MasterS, but after 2 timeouts in the pool he was removed and sent to his room. I really cannot understand his behaviour. He knows exactly what he is doing is wrong, and knows there are consequences to his actions - yet he still does it.....

This morning I got my PAD and my photo for this weeks challenge of Motion. MasterJ has for some reason become obsessed with guns. So he builds a "gun" with his blocks and walks around the house pointing it at things saying "pwneown" accompanied with plenty of spit. I'm not sure where this comes from as we have never "played" guns with him, or let him watch it on tv, so I can only think he must've picked it up at daycare. Either that, or there is just a built in "i'm a boy" chip that makes him do it! So todays PAD is MasterJ shooting his gun - you can kinda get the idea of his sound effects by looking at his face!!

This photo for this weeks challenge took a bit to get it. Trying to focus on the cars, let go of them down the track, move the camera at the same rate as the cars move and actually take the picture is hard work. Add into that MAsterJ pestering me to play with HIS cars (how rude) it made for some interesting time! It took me about 100 photos to get one that I was happy with. So this is the weekly challenge pic!