Friday 23rd July

This morning I got my first practice doing a proper shoot with kiddies that I don't really know. Well I do know them as they are friends of Aunty C, but I they don't know me IYKWIM???

Anyway, I met them down at the foreshore and MissE was very co operative at first, but MasterC was a little less enthusiastic about the activity. I was a bit disappointed when I downloaded the photos to find a lot that should have been good were out of focus. I really do still have to master my 50mm lens! We couldn't get the kids to sit nicely together, so I didn't manage to get a nice one of the two of them - but I think I managed to get a few good ones of them individually! I chose one pic of MissE as my PAD for today.



This afternoon I had an interview. I feel confident that it went really well. Fingers crossed, I should know by the end of next week :-D

Oh, I also got my outfit for the work staff party next week. The theme is Woodstock. I went to the op shops on my way into the foreshore this morning and picked up some clothes and accessories for $20. If you're lucky I will take another Self Portrait on Friday before I leave :-P

Thursday 22nd July

School's back.....therefore so is Kindygym!

On the way to Kindygym I went to look for some grafitti that someone mentioned so I could take a shot. I couldn't find any, but I did find this run down house and this has ended up as my PAD.




After Kindygym, we went to the park with Master S, Baby W and Aunty C. The boys had a great time playing and I did a bit of an impromptu photo shoot hehehe.....

Grocery shopping in the afternoon and after dinner I went and met Aunty C at the shops and picked up a few things in the Target sale.

Here are some more photos from today:

Monday 19th - Wednesday 21st July

Hmmm......3 days to catch up on! Hmmmmm......

Nothing much to report, if I start on work I will be here for the next 3 hours so I won't! My last photo (taken today) will probably give you an indication of my feelings at work over the last 3 days!!

Good news though, I do have an interview on Friday, so fingers crossed!!!

In amongst work I have managed to get all our data together for our tax returns, so that is good and I can get into the accountant next week.

Here are my three PAD's for the last 3 days. All quite boring and uninspiring, but that's what happens at the end of looooong days!

Sunday 18th July

The boys are starting to get better at playing together. This morning I took a video of them intently building a battleship together. It is nice to see them interacting more now, especially when it doesn't involve (much) hitting, screaming pushing etc! Here is a link to the video:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=407686702595

I took the boys down to the foreshore this morning for 3 reasons.

1. To get some exercise
2. For the kids to play at the park
3. For me to take some photos

On the way in it was looking very grim as we got closer to the foreshore and it even started spitting. But once there, it seemed to clear up a bit - on land anyway. There were some awesome clouds and rain happening out to sea, which made for some great photos! So I practised a bit of landscape photography, then used hte boys to practise some portraits!



They played in the park and we had morning tea before returning home.



While they ran amok in the house after their sleeps I processed my photos and had fun playing around with different types of post processing. I then had the hard task of selecting one to represent my photo for today in Project 365. In the end this is the shot I ended up with:


I have added some of the other shots in, as I think I got a few good ones today - well I'm happy with them anyway!!





Oh...and before I forget, I won this week's online EB Photo Challenge of Sculpture, with the shot I took back on Tuesday of the Steel Tree. I almost changed that entry to one that I had taken of the Catalpa Memorial today. Glad I didn't now!! I have chosen the theme of BUILDINGS next week. I am interested to see what different things people can do with this theme.

Saturday 17th July

After buying the drawers from Ikea for MasterA's new room over a week ago, I decided that I would put them together this morning :-S

MasterJ went outside with MrJ to put the new lawnmower together and I made a start at putting the drawers together.....with a little bit of help from an 18 month old!!!! Even sitting him down with sultanas didn't stop him wanting to get up and walk all over the bits and pieces on the floor! In the end I managed to get them done and MrJ finished them off bay attaching them to the wall in the wardrobe. Tick - another job done!

I played hockey in the afternoon. It was second bottom (us) agains bottom of the ladder. They hadn't won a game all season, so the pressure was on.......and phew, we won...just!! It was 1-0 and our goal was scored by a ring in from the team above us!! It was a better game than we normally play, with more attack from us, we just seem to be unable to convert into a score!!

Todays PAD came from my handyman work in the morning.

Friday 16th July 2010

PHEW - busy busy busy today!!

We dropped the boys at school and headed down to Mandurah to pay some of the kids swing set layby and pick up a set of headphones for the car. Just as we were leaving there was an awesome rainbow and we could see both ends. As it developed we were able to see the whole thing. I only had my Lumix with me, better than nothing, so I jumped out and snapped away. So this complete rainbow, complete with the start of a second rainbow to the right of it, is my PAD for today!!!



We came back from Mandurah and MrJ went to pick up his new lawnmower from Bunnings. Then it was down to the main task of the day - printing, mounting and sending my photos into the Perth Show.

I had been to Photocoffee a few weeks ago, but I left my run a bit short for getting it done. The entries have to be in by 5pm on Weds 21st. The owner and a few of his employees are away until the 21st, so the young guy who has been left in charge was great and helped me out. We were there for 3 hours!!! After that I had to go to a picture framers to get 3 of the prints mounted and matted because there were of irregular size.

After killing an hour waiting for the prints to be finished we headed to the Post Office. Here I had to make sure the print were secure in their mounts, label them all, fill out the paper work and package them up securely. We were using one of the tables and I had the photos in a pile next to me and the table on the floor. Some drongo decided that addressing is envelope was so important that he was going to help himself to a corner of the desk and moved some stuff to be able to do it. Just as he started doing it I looked down to see he had put his great clodhopper on my pictures. OMFG he is soooo lucky that I didn't swear at him.
After a bit of blowing off of grit and gentle breathing and rubbing of marks, the remnants of the footprint were only visible if you held the print at a certain angle to the light. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable to the judges .....grrrrrrrrrrrr

We spent a good hour and a bit in the post office, and finally bid my entries farewell. This is a shot of them all mounted before packing them up. I am sooooo pleased in how they have printed and I now will have to find some wall space to put them up when I get them back from the show!!!!

After all that, we got home and it was pretty much straight back out to pick up the boys from school where they had both had great days!!!

Thursday 15th July 2010

I took MasterA back to the doctors today to follow up on his treatment for his cough. His cough seems to have been better since being on the ventolin, so the doc has recommended to start winding the dosage back and see how he goes.

After the docs we headed into the shops. I went to take my necklace into Michael Hill to be repaired - I should've known better. I ended up coming out with a charm bracelet with 6 charms to start me off :-O....it is NOT a good idea to let me through the door of jewellery shops!!! So my PAD is my newest addition to my gold collection pmsl



We all went out in the afternoon to do the grocery shopping and we signed up for the new Jetts gym opening up at the shopping centre at the end of the month. It is way cheaper than where we are members at the moment, and it is open 24 hours a day - so way more flexible to fit in around everything else that I do!! So hopefully I'll get right back into it at the start of August!!!

Wednesday 15th July 2010

OMG - what a day......

I got to work at 630 and started working on a spreadsheet for some data collection.

At 845 I went into a meeting to develop the process and plan for the data collection....

Back to my desk at 1115 to draw up an agenda.........

1145 I heated up and wolfed down my soup.........

1200 into another meeting with a couple of consultants to discuss the work we had developed this morning......

1300 straight into the next meeting - our weekly project team meeting..........

1430 out of that meeting into another meeting with one of the consultants to cover off more details around the data collection.....

1545 - back to my desk, check email and in the car at 1600 on my way home :-S

I think the next couple of months are going to be a TAD full on!!!

When I got back to my desk the sun was poking out of a couple of clouds, through the bare tree in through the window. I couldn't be bothered going out and taking a photo so I took it through the window with my Lumix compact. After downloading the shots I could see that they were pretty crappy. So I played around with it in Lightroom and this is what I ended up with:



Before the boys had dinner tonight it was soooo cute. MasterA came running (well as close to running as he can do) which is a funny act in itself, anyway he came running towards me absolutely cacking himself and MasterJ followed closely behind. For about 20 minutes they played a kind of chase game that had MasterA in hysterics! It was so good to watch them playing together - hopefully this is the start of a more equal interactive relationship between them! :-D

Tuesday 13th July

At last, a break in the weather!!

Another day at work and things are ramping up with "the very important project" I am working on...still no sign of them putting me on full time even though it is quite apparent that is what is needed....

On the way home from work I thought it would be great to get up to the Steel Tree before picking the boys up from school, especially if there were some good clouds. This weeks theme is "Sculpture" so I thought the Steel Tree suited the theme. As it happens, I was in luck and the clouds were great. I lay down on the floor to try and get a good perspective of the tree with the clouds, but I couldn't fit it all in. So I had to take two photos and stitch them in Photoshop. In actual fact the photo is made up of 6 photos, as it is an HDR. I was quite happy with how it turned out and it is also my PAD.


After dinner I took off to my monthly photography club meeting. This months theme was "broken and busted". I entered one photo into the modified theme category and two in the modified open category.....AND..... I came first in the modified theme and first AND second in the modified open category!! How stoked am I??? The winning shots are below :-D :-D :-D

1st Modified Theme


1st Modified Open


2nd Modified Theme

Monday 12th July

BLAH - another wet and windy night, soooooo did not want to get out of bed this morning!! The last thing I felt like doing was driving in this weather!! But, I did.......

I need another job...................well not another job, a different job!

I cooked roast lamb for dinner and it was a great model for my PAD :-P

Sunday 11th July

More wet and wild and woolly weather today!!

Since it is school holidays, the shopping centre is open on Sundays, so I took the boys to the shops for cookie and milkshake and to pick up some healthy groceries. I have decided that tomorrow I am going to try and be healthier - fruit and yoghurt is in, chocolate and cookies are out!! Well that's the plan anyway!!

In the afternoon I experimented with my iDVD software and created a DVD of yesterdays party photos. I am really happy with the result, I hope R is too!!

I was so carried away with doing the DVD it came to dinner time and I had not taken my PAD. So I took a snap of my last bar of white chocolate!! No I didn't eat it all, so I will have to finish it tomorrow - bahahahaha

Saturday 10th July 2010

I made an apple tea cake this morning for morning tea using the Thermomix and it turned out really well!!

Aunty C, MasterS and BabyW came around for a play/chat - that was a nice manic morning with two 3 year olds that have mastered the art of ignoring everything they DON'T want to hear :-S Anyway, we all survived!!!

In the afternoon I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go and photograph a 3 year olds Pirate Birthday party. Someone on EB asked if anyone was interested in shooting the party to practice etc, so I volunteered and was chosen :-D It was a FANTASTIC party - so well done and I was impressed with the effort that everyone went to to dress up!! There were SOOOOOOOOO many cute kids and I snapped away for 2.5 hours! It was great to be able to be at a kids party and not worry about my own kids - although they would have had a ball! It was an interesting challenge for me as a fair bit was inside, so I had to use my Speedlight. I think in the end there were a few good shots and the rest were passable!! I took over 600 and managed to get that down to less than half after going through them all!! I'm not sure that I can use the pics I took of some of the kiddies as I would probably need permission from their parents. So todays PAD is off the AWESOME cake!!

Friday 9th July 2010

Well the plan was to take the boys to school, drop my car in for a service and then pick up the swing set from BigW that we put on lay by for the boys for christmas. But one look at the weather this morning indicated that we wouldn't be picking up the the swing set today!!

After dropping my car, we came home and I attacked my desk in the study and made a start at trying to find it under all the crap that I have dumped on there over the last few months!! I got a fair bit done before it was time for my MASSAGE and FACIAL!!!!

And that was GOOD!!!! 2 hours of pampering and I think I fell asleep during the little relaxation parts of the facial!!

We had lunch at Jamaica Blue before heading back down to Mandurah to pick up my car. We stopped in at Spotlight first to see if they had curtains for MasterA's bedroom - they didn't. I did find the right coloured material and got the chick to do me a quote to make them and it was waaaaaaaay more reasonable than any other quotes I have had in the past. So it looks like I'll get them made at Spotlight. We also picked up MasterA's bedding for his new bed, but I still haven't found a doona cover to match his theme.

So his room is going pretty well. It's just a matter of putting bits and pieces together, getting the curtains made and waiting for his bed to arrive - how excitement!!

After dinner I made myself go and finish what I started with my desk and scrapping gear. I now have a CLEAR desk and I have sorted all my scrapping gear into my new "Tart Cart" and all my scraps into a colour coded file - now I may actually use the scraps!! I may even be inspired to spend an evening or 2 a week down there doing some scrapping now that there is room on the desk LMAO

This morning when the boys got up, they were both playing really well with the block. So I took the opportunity to get my camera out and practice with my speedlite. I have a birthday party to shoot tomorrow and with the weather the way it is, it will be inside. So I will need to use my speedlite - could be scary. I have decided that I will leave the speedlite on auto and will just work out the best angle for it and maybe the filter.

Anyway, todays PAD is one I took of MasterJ working feverishly on building ....something!

Thursday 8th July 2010

It was an early start to the day with a visit to the Dr for MasterA. The primary purpose of the visit was to get his 18 month needles, but I wanted the Dr to check him out because he still has the cough and wheeze that started back in May.

The Dr said it may be asthma or he may just need a helping hand to get rid of something that has just compounded over time. So he prescribed him a ventolin inhaler, cough medicine and some eye drops (his eye went gunky yesterday!) After all that, he had his chicken pox needle in his arm too!! The visit to the chemist wasn't cheap as I had to get the spacer and mask for the ventolin aswell!! Todays PAD is of the medicine haul for MasterA!!



We carried on from the Dr's to Ikea to pick up some things for MasterA's new room. We managed to get the shelves and drawers that I was after, but no luck on the curtain front!

The rain came in while we were there and it looks like it is going to be here for a while!

After doing the grocery shopping in the afternoon, I was pretty much spent!

Wednesday 7th July

Not much to report today, went to work, came home, about to watch State of Origin.....

MasterJ wanted sgettie for dinner, after opening the can I thought I would use it for my PAD. It took a fair while to end up with this as the result:

Tuesday 6th July

I took half a day off work today as Time In Lieu for the half day I did last Friday. So I went in normal time this morning and left at 11am, which was nice!!

I spent my free time painting MasterA's big boy room. MrJ actually helped (which is very unusual as he HATES painting), so we got the whole room done with 2 coats of paint and it looks great! I love the colour I have picked and it has covered really well. I even had some spare time after we had finished to pop out to Spotlight to see if they had any curtains and go to Bedshed to see if they had the bed I want to get MasterA.

Well Spotlight didn't have anything I was looking for, but Bedshed could order the bed for me. It is going to take 3-4weeks to come, so I guess there is no hurry to do all the other things like shelves, borders etc. Although We could finish it off and put him in there in his cot until the bed arrives. I am not sure I can cope with having all the spare room stuff lying around the house for the long term, and the nursery still needs decorating after MasterA is evicted!!!

I was planning on making a start on filing a pile of paperwork and sorting out the mess that is my scrapping area, but I really canney be bothered. So I'll put my feet up and watch Packed to the Rafters instead!!

When I posted may PAD of the painting gear the other day, one of the ladies made a suggestion that I do all my progress pics in b&w and do a big colour reveal when it is all done. In keeping with that theme, todays PAD shows the paint tin, after the painting was completed!

4th & 5th July 2010

Sunday - the day of rest ....pfffftttttt.

In between wrestling fights I got MasterA's big boy room prepared for painting. I filled the holes, masking taped the edges and washed the walls. When MrJ got home, he filled the gaps around the cornice and I started the paint job. I only did one coat on 2 walls, but at least I made a start!!

So todays PAD is symbolic of the job ahead!!


Monday - meh a work day. Nothing much to report on the work front, well nothing I feel like expending anymore of my energy on by blogging it! MrJ got a job. not bad eh? Starts looking about 10 days a go and gets a job offering mega moolah...why won't they pay me that much I am so much more than a boring old engineer???? So he starts on the 16th August and is working 4 days a week. We are going to have to work out how to juggle getting the kids to and from school, and they may have to go in on a Thurs too if I do end up working full time.

When I got home I decided that we would go for a walk to the park. The boys had fun playing while I was snapping away! I got my shot for this weeks theme of "Love" and it is also my PAD.

30th June - 3rd July 2010

Oh dear, haven't I been a slacko again!! Now I have to remember what I have done over the past 4 days!!!

Wednesday was a work day and not a really eventful one at that. I went to hockey training on Weds evening and I had every intention of going to BigW at midnight for the toy sales. WELL, I put in my postcode on the BigW website and it said that Mandurah and Gateways were opening at midnight. So I jumped in the car at 1130 and took off to Gateways. I got there at about 5 to 12 and there wasn't a soul to be seen. So I drove home :-( When I went back to their website it seems there were 2 sets of opening hours. One at the end of the catalogue section and one if you just used the standard store locator....guess which one was correct?? grrrrrrrr

My PAD for Wednesday was taken when the boys were in the bath and I really like it :-)



Thursday morning MrJ had an interview and I took the boys to the last Kindygym of the term. After kindygym we went for cookie and milkshake with AuntyC, MasterS and BabyW. MasterS and MasterJ were terrible the whole time we were there, but did give me my PAD hehehe.......



MrJ's interview went well, now he has to wait to hear back what they might be prepared to pay him.

I did the grocery shopping in the afternoon and took off to Kmart with AuntyC in the evening. It was a very successful trip where I managed to get more than half the toys I was after! I was glad to see my bed that night!!!

Friday morning we dropped the boys at school and took off to Mandurah to BigW to pick up the rest of the toys I had listed. Again, a very successful trip!! As you can see in my PAD, I should have shares in Fisher Price LOL I now have all the christmas presents for the boys as well as MasterA's birthday. I also have ALL birthday presents needed between now and christmas in addition to christmas presents for all the kiddies we know. They are labelled and stashed away in the shed.




In the afternoon I had to go to the Burswood for the BMI project kick off meeting. Afterwards I spoke with the Project Manager about the proposal for me to go full time for 3 months. It seems that HR have a problem with this as they are not willing to pay me the salary that I am currently pro-rata paid for 3 days a week as it is apparently over a certain percentile on the Hay scale. Sooooooooooo.......I have news for them. I am not working anything extra than my 3 days a week. I am not going to do an extra half day here or there (like Friday) if they are not prepared to pay me for it. It should be interesting to see how it pans out.

Also, I had a call from a contact on Friday about an "opportunity" and we unfortunately played phone tag all day. So I am looking forward to hearing what it might be on Monday!!

So I arrive at today, Saturday. It was the boys last swimming lessons for this term and they both did a great job. This afternoon I played hockey and we were thrashed again. Soooooo disappointing - especially when people are just whacking the ball to nowhere when I am standing there free as bird doing sweet FA grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........it was the top team we played, but still, there were more opportunities to be had so we didn't have a 0 score on our end.

Before hockey I drove around to get a PAD and ended up at St John of God Hospital in Murdoch where the boys were born. They have lovely grounds there, so this is my shot for today.