Friday, February 11, 2011

February can suck it

This has been my mantra for the first two weeks of the month. It’s amazing how an entire month can go to hell in a hand basket in just 11 days, but it can and it has.

Here’s a rundown of the Joys of February thus far:
- A work project sent me down to San Jose for a day. For anyone not paying attention, that’s a round trip of about 6 hours…and that’s if you're traveling at off peak hours and no one of lessened IQ or driving competence is on the road. Seeing as how i'd need to be there by 2:30 and leave to head home at 4 and this is THE BAY we're talking about, I could expect a good long time in the car trying to not go completely ape $#!%

- I learned of this day-long road trip exactly 18 hours before I was due to leave prompting a rush to rearrange schedules to accommodate two people sharing one car, an emergency gathering of batteries, video tapes, lighting gear and camera to prepare for the project and a quick prayer to The Man Upstairs to keep my car (which had recently began shuddering when I accelerated or was stopped at a light) to get me safely down and back.

- Lost equipment that not only induced panic and crying jags, but also a last ditch effort to purchase a new microphone a mere 12 hours before I left for San Jose.

- A court mandated freeze on Husband’s and my bank account, for which we got a “courtesy call” from our bank en route to San Jose. Cue a day of telephone with a bank representative and a paralegal from the law firm working on the case trying to iron out the details only to discover it’s a case of mistaken identity that will take another week and counting to un-FUBAR it.

- A $400 repair on the aforementioned shuddering car (which lasted the entire trip…half of which before the ‘check engine’ light came on. Between that and the call from our bank, husband and I were thisclose to Thelma and Louise-ing it)

- Sore throat, head congestion and a cough that lasted for a week (so far…) that has totally put me off the taste of cherry cough drops, tissues without lotion and the color green. TMI??

There are more, smaller insignificant details and possibly some larger more significant events that I’m probably forgetting but you get the jist.

Actually, seeing it all typed out and in front of my face it may not sound terrible as most of these events happened in a single day, but understand that while they may have only happened on one day, their after effects are taking weeks (or in the case of the car, a month) before they are resolved or the cost ceases to be felt.

Like I said before, if the first two weeks of February are any indication of how the rest of the month is expected to go, February can suck it….

Thursday, February 3, 2011

2.2.2011- What he looks like

How in the world am I supposed to capture the Husband I see in pictures? There’s no way you’d be able to see in those millions of pixels how neatly my head fits in the space between his chin and neck, or the wonderfully hearty laugh that escapes his smile.

A picture of his eyes won’t do justice to how they change color and give away his every emotion; icy blue when he’s mad, a cool grey when he’s sad, blue-green when he’s happy and a deep turquoise blue when he says he loves me.

There’s no camera in the world that can best capture the Husband I see, the Husband I know better than I know myself and the husband who, to me, is completely perfect in every way. But I’ll do my best:

These photos were taken while walking around our college campus. It was a beautiful afternoon spent revisiting our old haunts, reminiscing about our college days and putting into perspective the journey we travel every day.


I know I'm biased, but isn't he gorgeous?




This shot was taken on Christmas and has become one of my favorites. This picture to me represents the child Husband once was, the youthfulness he still has, and in his eyes, the children that will someday be.


Interesting tidbit on these next two shots. They were taken in the dark (no lights on whatsoever) using only my flash....and they are beautiful if I do say so myself.

2.1.2011- What they do

Ok, these are not very cleverly shot photos, but they’re what I have considering I had completely forgotten my camera and had to use my iphone….I’ll reshoot this assignment for the finished product. In the meantime, I give you Husband at work:

Notice the slightly furrowed brow, the look of dogged determination mixed with exhaustion as the work day finally comes to an end.


And yet, not two seconds later this:


A smile, genuine at that, for the customer who walks in exactly 2 minutes before closing to inquire about their bill.


This is my Husband, ever the hard worker, ever so determined and ever so happy and eager to come to your rescue.

 
Husband at home doing what he really loves- watching a movie.

The Joy of Love

I found The Joy of Love through the grapevine of blogs that I read on a regular basis. This month long project was a photography class of sorts that would allow me to practice my photography and learn a bit more about lighting, ISO, fstops and shutter speeds and it sounded perfect.


The assignment is simple, find a person, people or animal that you love and photograph it daily for a month based on the daily prompts.

I have decided to spend the month photographing Husband, as he is the only person I see first thing in the morning and the last person I see when I go to bed at night (this is, at times, both a good thing and a bad thing– kidding). Granted, along the way I’ll likely spend some time photographing my sisters, Baby E, my parents and my cats in the name of the Joy of Love project, but at the end of the month, I hope to compile all of my photographs for a gift for Husband. Just as a reminder that, lest he forget, there is no greater joy than being in love with him.

So for the next month, this blog will be mostly devoted to this photography assignment. I can promise you there will be not-so-great photos, hopefully some really spectacular ones, some sappy blogging on my part (keep a barf bag nearby), and, I can only hope, some inspiration for you readers to keep your eyes peeled for whatever you love that brings you joy.