December 23, 2009

Merry Friggin’ Christmas

I’m buried in wrapping paper and presents. We purchase so many gifts every year that we have to have a spreadsheet to track them all, lest we forget someone. Personally, I’d be fine with a hand-written list jotted on the back of a Christmas card envelope, which is how I used to do it. But someone in my house firmly believes that all of life can be neatly categorized in Excel spreadsheets, and so that’s what we do. Don’t tell him I said this, but it’s actually quite handy as we have a running record of our gift giving and it’s saved us from giving the same thing twice. I even created a tab for my Christmas card list, so I’m being sucked right into the nerd vortex that swirls around my husband.

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December 19, 2009

Logic

This morning, I begged Zoe to get dressed. “C’mon, Zo, we have to leave to go Christmas shopping. Please get dressed.”

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December 18, 2009

I heart my softbox

Several months ago I attended a seminar on using a flash for studio lighting, how to get a more natural look, etc. It was a good seminar. I bought a few things, including my very first softbox. I’ve wanted a softbox for about as long as I can remember, but normally a softbox is a big investment. You don’t just buy the box, you have to buy a light and a powerpack and a lightstand. Then you have to buy a transmitter and a receiver so your camera can remotely fire the light.

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December 17, 2009

Chocolate’s ailment

Many times, Zoe’s “babies” have the same ailments as she. Hoot has thrown up (as you all know) and had sore feet and knees (owls have knees?) and tummy aches. A few weeks ago, he got his finger caught in the tire swing s-hook just like Zoe did. So it’s not a surprise when she announces that one of them isn’t feeling well and then elaborates.

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December 17, 2009

O Christmas Tree

Yup. That’s our Christmas tree. We purchased a base for the tree this year that rotates the entire tree, slowly, allowing you to see all sides. For the first time, we put all our ornaments on the tree, and even bought an extra strand of C9 LED lights. Since my brain is now unencumbered by terms like “market capitalization,” I can think of things like, “Hey, wouldn’t it be sweet to slow the shutter waaaaaay down and get some wicked blur with those lights?” And since I don’t have to spend my evenings typing term papers, I could take the camera and tripod in the library and set up long-ass shutter speeds and play. Yes, boys and girls, this is what we call photographic fun.

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December 15, 2009

Well, duh

Tonight, after I picked up Zozer from school and drove us home, and pulled into the garage and shut off the car and reached around to unbuckle her from the car seat amidst her hat, gloves, Hootie, HeartSaysKissMe, and a book, we had this conversation:

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