daisy daisy

litter gerber girl (boy?) Apparently it is possible to lose all cognative ability when you have a head cold. I totally forgot to blog today..I'm blaming snot. Anywho..Dave and I were lucky enough to get through step one of the adoption process on our second rescue doggie "Tifa". She is a little female version of Da Vinci (part black lab part border collie). Next comes the doggie meet up. We both pray that goes well. Little mr spoiled is not used to having to share mommy & daddy. Just to be on the safe side, we are getting a crate tonight. This will help set the pack order in the house. I, not dave, will remain alpha in the house LOL. Tifa needs to learn some manners, so a squirt bottle will be purchased as well. Neither of us believe in hitting. I'll update you on Thursday, when Tifa will hopefully be coming home with us. I actually have to call the vet tomorrow to see if the groomer will be available. She is currently shelter dirty..butt aint getting on my sofa like that :) Boy is my Honda Element going to stink that night. Well, I left feedback on about 15 photos today on two of the sites I belong to. That is my new daily commitment. I have a really bad habit of just commenting on photos I like...I live in fear of mean review retribution. One wonderful thing I've gained from joining some blog rings is finding some wonderful blogs. I will be adding a few tonight or tomorrow. One you should definately read is Matt's blog. Once I figure out this blogroll thing I will build it :) For now links will have to suffice. There really are a lot of people out there trying to make this a better world! It is very uplifting. If you have such a blog or would like to link, let me know. I'm always happy to help in my own little way. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Picture of the day

Buick Grille

Happy Monday

I woke up today full of resolution! I have got to get more organized. When Dave and I discussed my going part time, I had a lot of big plans. Things I was going to do with that extra four hours a day. I have a lot going on: Photography, the web site, two online courses, three hobbies and a house to run, as well as wanting to volunteer. Unfortunately, I've not structured my time and seem to be spinning my wheels and getting absolutely nothing done. The house has fallen into a cluttered mess, no school work has gotten done (thank God its self paced and I can make it up by crunching) and I spend way too much time on the net. I had even planned on getting back into my speed reading mode and catching up on that...hasn't happened either. So today finds me disgusted with myself..resolving to get some semblance of a schedule going. I can no longer joke that it's because I am the intelligent artistic type who can't function in a structured environment...ha! The thought that I've bitten off more than I can chew...I won't even entertain that thought. While I am at work this morning, I plan on writing down everything I want to do and making some sort of loose schedule for myself. If I have a little discipline I know I can do it. One thing I do have going for me is the stubborness that is characteristic of my German heritage. Another thing that has been taking up most of my idle thoughts is a way to marry my love of photography with my desire to give back and make positive changes. I'm thinking there has to be some way to do this. Maybe sell a photo book with positive verse and have most of the profits go to a charity. Will continue to mull this one over today. Suggestions welcome by any visitors. The boards will be updated when I get home today..but in the meantime... Have a lovely day!

Picture of the Day

This Photo, I intend to represent all the different phases of life. It seemed to fits todays post.

Lets try this again...

Darn, first blogger acts wacky, then Comcast is down. From my notepad :) My first post went bye bye... Dave and I are going to meet a possible new sister for Da Vinci today! Here is her page on petfinders: Today I posted a lot of links that I really hope you will visit! There is a large button at the top as well as an entire new section "Get Involved" on the bottom right side. The botton at the top works this way: You click on it and a sponsor donates. Their page has links for Child Healthcare, Breast Cancer, the Rain Forest, Literacy and Shelter Animals. Each one donates something different. The Breast Cancer site, for example, will donate towards covering mammograms for each click. My hope is that the information provided will shock you into acting. I was horrified when I visited the Anti-Slavery.org page and read the statistics as well as reading that approximately every 30 seconds someone in the world (Yes, including the US!) dies of starvation. As a young adult I always dreamed of joining the Peace Corps, but without a college degree could not. In my present situation, married and older I cannot. I have always been hyper sensitive to suffering, and hope that both locally and via the internet I can help in some way. I feel that it is my duty, as a caring human and as a Christian. If I do nothing, I am no better than those who impose this suffering on others. My desire is that by visiting these sites, you will also feel compelled to act.

photo of the day

Absolute Perfection of Form Truly a Gift From Above Well..I never made it to work today...got worse as I was driving in. Since we do not have sick days, I'm using a vacation day to be a slug. Courtesy of Health Haven (Dave has dubbed it Hippie Haven), I will be loading up on homeopathic stuff. I have "Naturcoksinum" ..I can't even say it's active ingredient: Anas barbariae hepatis et cordis extractum 200C. The guy at the store swears by this product so, we'll see; Quercetin 500 Plus: Manganese, Quercetin, Bromelain, Turmeric & Citric Bioflavonoids in this one. At least I've heard of manganese and have added turmeric to food I've cooked; Dr. Bronner's Eucalyptus liquid glycerin soap (This stuff really clears the head in the shower) and lastly Yogi Tea: Organic Healing Formula. Also in the bag is Instant Miso-cup with Seaweed, Flax Oil "Lemon Flavor" (I hope they aren't fibbing...I hate the way Flax tastes), Coconut Skin Trip soap, Vegi-broth powder, Organic French Lentils and a crunchy snack made of honey, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and some other things I can't identify..I know it tastes good and a piece of it was lunch. This is the shopping list of a child of former hippies :) That explains a lot about me. I still miss San Diego for the healthy environment. I have often cosidered going back to my old vegetarian lifestyle. There was something uplifting about living meat free. I also felt better and had great skin. Plus, I really miss San Diego this time of year; that's probably going to take a while to change. Healthy restaraunts abound and I could eat out guilt free. I need a juice bar and more coffee shops! Oh boy, now I'm sick and bummed. LOL wah wah. Enough of that. My body is telling me that its time to lay down...Lord, all I really wanted to do today was take some pictures and do some editing on CS2. I guess that will have to wait until a bit later. For anyone that actually reads my forums (yeah right :) I will probably be posting tomorrow instead of today...I'm freezing. Time to get warm and grab a book.

Bit of a delay...

My schedule has been switched to am today so blog will be a bit delayed. I am also coming down with what I hope will just be a cold instead of bronchitus..so I cannot form proper sentences at this exact moment. Last year I was home for 3 weeks with bad bronchitus..so downing lots of OJ this time hoping that stops it in its tracks... TTFN

Over the hump!

Yippee! Its finally Thursday...one more day to go. I'm working 5-9 today and tomorrow, so should actually get alot done in the house. SHOULD haha. Done my web stuff for the day. Well, maybe not..I have some photos to post still on Flickr and Smugmug. That may have to wait until tonight. I am going full on into this diet thing... Last night went grocery shopping. I think I may have found every possible meal option under 300 calories! Salad, carrot juice, some Weight Watchers dinners, Veggie sausage, fresh brocolli, turkey sausage... I found the absolute coolest thing also..to me..Country Crock Honey Flavor..this stuff is incredible..makes my light english muffin palatable! Dave & I are both trying to eat better...its so easy to get lax..last night was turkey cutlets with steamed rice and peanut sauce..it was really awesome...and I got Dave to eat turkey! :) I'm hoping to have lost my first ten by this weekend..x your fingers! As far as the blog changes today..added a Dictionary.com search box..I love this site!; I added a Flickr badge of my work and 2 new link buttons. Globe of Blogs and WebArt are both cool sites. More to come. If there is anything you'd like to suggest (or tell me bites) feel free to do so! I'm off to make some LightLife Veggie Sausage patties. Have an awesome day!

Photo of the Day

Near the Forked River Power Plant We were crabbing with hand lines

Photo of the Day...blathering to follow

Detail of a Door, Mount Holly, NJ With six hours of sleep under my belt (ouch) I am off to work...so the ramblings of an idiot will have to wait until this afternoon....:)

Photo of the Day...and some ranting

Standing the Test of Time taken at Sacred Heart Cemetary Ok that covers the photo of the day part....now my ranting :) Crap in my email! AAARRGGGHHHHH!! I now have CT in my right hand because of cleaning out my inbox...Lord you have got to be kidding me...I'll admit it should be done daily, but come on...5,700 emails! Out of that, I kept less than 150. The reason this is such a pain in the arse is because I HAVE A SPAM FILTER! So that number is not counting what was in spam and deleted without reading...that's about 100 PER DAY!!! For goodness sakes, LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!!!! I am not: Looking for Porn, Needing body parts enlarged -I don't even have them, looking for drugs online, going to give you my bank account information so you can wire me 10M from Africa, responding to your sweepstakes offer, looking for debt consolidation, single and looking for dates or...this is my favorite: going to open a link titled [2]. Cashiers who ask for my last name,zip code or telephone number...I can't be the only Smith you get. Don't look annoyed when I won't give it to you. If I wanted to be on your mailing list I would ask you. People, especially servers, who do the "WE" thing. I am not a WE. WE are not a WE. What do you have, a freakin mouse in your pocket? Please just ask me what I would like to order and if I am ready.... Refinance offers by mail....If I threw out the last 75 you sent...maybe you should stop sending them. Credit Card offers with a 28% interest rate! ARE YOU INSANE or just think I am that stupid...My credit score is in the high 700's and I'm not in forclosure..what the hell mailing list am I on anyway? Omaha Steaks. I have ordered gifts from them a few times and now get at least 5! calls a week about their phone only specials. Call Intercept...keeps allowing this stupid ass calls to come through on my phone that says "Unavailable" The use of the word "Conversate"....For the love of Pete..show me where this word is in a dictionary! I know, right next to irregardless! Customers (I am a part time CSR) who: Make me hold after I say hello, keep pushing buttons, ask me if I am a computer, hold their babies as close to the mouth piece as possible, CHEW IN THE PHONE (gross), give me their zip code when I ask for their area code..I could go on..but you get the idea..and the prize..the customer who tells me, "You shut up and let me talk...what is your job title (I have to say csr), that's what I thought, I am the customer and your job is to serve me, so you WILL do what I tell you. Do you understand." If you honestly think you will get anywhere after this statement you are sadly mistaken. I actually try to do my job and help people...you are now on "my list" and I cannot hear a single word you are saying...talk to the robotic csr. I will admit to being somewhat ashamed of this post..but it was cheaper than my $140 therapist. I have added RSS feeds and email notification sign up of new posts (DAVE you need this :) and will be posting the answer to yesterdays cryptogram as well as reintroducing the word of the day. Whatever else that was on my list yesterday, that can be done in 45 mins will be done also.. I am working 5-9pm tonight...yeah I get to see my friends from the night shift. Great day to everyone!

Photo of the Day 1/23/05

This is for Dawn & Tim!

Lets try this again....

Whole freaking post just disappeared...because I tried to spell check.....nice! Okay..lets try this again..Changes I've made thus far: New Template...Kudos to Thur's (link provided) for this wonderful 3 column template. Hopefully no more scrambled egg-like posts. New Links.. Blogs, Web Stuff and Restarted Forums..First to Debut is Daily Cryptogram (my new favorite word puzzle). Now..What I'm working on..Changes I'd like to see done this week: More web links..It is really, really hard and time consuming to find good stuff especially for the Blogger forum that is different. I am working on a list of links I have found really helpful re templates and hacks that work with Blogger. I spent about 2 days on and off searching..after a lot of poop stuff found some work by incredible authors who deserve major shout outs. This is one of the first things on my list. I will build as I find more as well. More Forums...Dave seems to have abandoned these in favor of RSS feed..the newest shiny object to catch his eye HAHA...and we had so much fun with these..I'm working on building these back up again..AND ENCOURAGE HIM TO DO LIKEWISE..hint hint! I will leave BeatleJuice and Superheros to Dave...My boards as usual will deal with language related topics. So far Cryptograms (my new favorite word games), hope to restart Word of the Day and Useless Facts. Cross Post Photos...To Flickr and Smugmug....way behind on both of these...Reply to Reviews on FanArt Review as well as post..Really need to get back to posting on Flickr...love the site and have not been participating..that is going to change! I also have a TON of photos that need to be edited, etc...and a whole closet of stuff to go through and donate. So it is going to be a busy, busy week....

Test

This is a Zoundry test blog post....

Part I

Working 10-2 today..but am trying to keep up with daily posts (well almost :) Have to pick a photo to post quickly..have to be in the shower in about 10 mins. BTW am thinking of listing a daily cryptogram or something...recently got hooked on them. Think I will be doing that via a forum. Check back later today for some changes...not really keen on the layout of the page either, so that may change as well. Have a great day!

How Cool Is This

I know its just a bug...but how cool is this shot. Artistically I know its lacking, but I can't believe how much my new Finepix captured! I am loving my camera. Once I get past the learning curve...watch out LOL. In a way its sad that I'm about to start dinner and I run and get my camera because of this little bug on the range hood. I think I have issues. Today was absolutely gorgeous! Thank you (you know who) for such an awesome reprieve from winter! I cherished it enough to open a window..just had to close the back door because its freezing in the house now. Today I bought a 1 gig card for my camera. This is going to really cut down on having to switch cards in the middle of shooting. Can't wait to fill it up. Thank you so much to the awesome guy (darn I didnt get your name) in Staples who helped me. I can't wait to see your picutes. Well short one today..have a lot of pictures to edit. I will also try to reinstall elements. Cross your fingers for me. Have a great night all!

Revisiting some friends

I will be posting more later today..but before going off to work, wanted to post 2 of my favorite shots.. the first is fungus the second the back of a rose bud.

Trying to get my lazy butt moving

Today's Photo: Sundress I have the day off and here I am at 11:30 still in my pj's. Pathetic! Going to post and run today. Yesterday was a wash for my cousin. There was a huge accident en route to the airport. They closed the main road with no detour signs. Apparently a tanker full of flamable liquid overturned on both sides of 95. Hazmat had already been there for 8 hours and the truck still wasn't uprighted. We left at 3:15pm to get him to the airport for a 5:15 flight .. which he had to rebook (got there at 5pm) and didnt get back hom until 7pm. We will be calling ahead today LOL. I'm posting a pic of a sundress today because I wish it was sundress season :) Great day to everyone!

cha cha cha changes

Mulling over this one..but Decided to detach my blog from my website. Want the site to be professional. I previously removed links and posting ability, but have decided to add it back. I will be doing that today. I decided its just too much fun blogging and I don't want to give that up for the sake of the site. They are two seperate things as of NOW :) So..here is a photo I took today. This camera is a real bugger. I am determined to lick this photo thing..I will perservere. I was looking around at some photo bloggers and was really blow away by some of them. I especially liked the idea of one entitled "one photo a day" and think I will follow suit. It is a teriffic exercise for the brain. After checking with the aforementioned bloggers and getting their permission, I will post links. For now, though, I am off to see my cousin Mark. We haven't seen each other in years. Today is his last day here, and mom is taking him to the airport at about 3:30pm. This is our last day to hang out, but I do hope to keep in touch by email, etc when he goes back overseas. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Finally

I'll get to my movie review momentarily.... I am in the process of building MY SHOP :) at Cafe Press! After a lot of comparing, I decided that they were my best choice. Although it will probably take most of today...this is it! I am so excited and full of anticipation. I'll be starting my marketing soon...so be prepared. Here is the link... http://www.cafepress.com/andrealee I've always dreamed of having a job that I can really put my whole heart into, and if this takes off I think I have found it. So everyone cross your fingers and say your prayers for me, as I undertake my challenge of a lifetime. Okay, onto my review of Narnia. I really loved the movie. Breathtaking. The actors were wonderful as was the computer animation. Dave is now referring to our dog as "beaver" because he has a big butt. I loved the happy ending but Dave was actually dissapointed that nobody died..weirdo. I love the actress who plays the queen..she was awesome in Orlando. I wish she was in more movies. She was a perfect choice for the part. We both agreed that it was a tad bit slow in spots..but nothing to detract from the overall experience. Wonderful good versus evil tale. See it! Olive Garden was okay. We were their last customers for the day, so they were nice, but you could tell they couldn't wait for us to leave lol. It probably didn't help that Mom & Dave were playing 52 pickup with a pile of coasters, and hitting everyone at the table with them :) Food was good, not great. I had shells with shrimp and a blush sauce. The sauce was exceptional; I'll give them that. Spinich artichoke dip was ok but TGIF's is better. Dave got fried raviolis as an appetizer...ok I know this is weird..but...meat ravioli is an abomination...ok I said it..cheese ravioli rocks..but it too "mystery meatish" for me..gives me chills YUCK. Everyone said they were good..I spit mine into my napkin after I bit into it. One of my many oddities. Funny that I will eat raw oysters but meat in my ravioli makes me shudder....go figure LOL Well, I'm going to get back to work on my store... Eveyone have a wonderful day!

oh boy oh boy

Finally tonight...off to see The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. This is the second time this excursion has been rescheduled and I can't wait to see the movie. I got out of the Fantastic Four, but realize I am only biding my time until its Dave's turn to pick the next movie. We agreed on this one :)..hmm I think its actually my turn next. Dave and I have an understanding regarding "chick flicks" though; he will not be subjected to them. Its the least I can do lol..even though I've seen every Will Farrell movie under the sun. I'm dedicating myself, once again, to web authoring. My apology to site visitors. What I thought was a cool artsy look, was actually kind of annoying :) I'm going with a much cleaner look from here on. Still working on the guest book (may change to a different one with more features), trying to get the forum rolling again (may link within pages, etc) and am setting up a storefront at Cafe Press. I like the customization features they offer as well as included marketing. You probably noticed the Google Ads and Site Search. I personally love Google and do like that they allow you to change the look of the interface to lessen the obtrusiveness of the ads. I would also like to incorporate a calendar into the page as well. Still deciding on a design. I would love to eventually have some flash content, however, I'm a bit concerned that this would limit visitors who want to avoid flash...we'll see. The last thing I'd like to add is some streaming, which I'll try on my one before bugging Dave. Anyway...will post after we see the movie tonight. Hubby got stuck late at work (yeah IM'ing his buddies haha) so Olive Garden will have to wait until after the movie..that's going to cost Dave some breadsticks!

anticipation...new tulips

anticipation...new tulips, originally uploaded by andrealeev. boy oh boy..wonder what color tulips i will get..

narcissus-buds

narcissus-buds, originally uploaded by andrealeev. ok..now i'm posting from flickr..maybe this will work better.

some more macros

today i got my new lense adaptor! boy oh boy...stack those macro lenses..a few more pics as i learn my new camera. for some reason i loaded them but don't see them...either blogger is acting funny or ??? so i will publish and check before i repost :) nothing really going on today...still havent licked the insomnia..guess poor dave is doomed to have a cranky wife...nah can't do that he already has a pouty dog to contend with... two days in a row!!! yipeeeeeee

aloha

Big news....compliments of my wonderful husband this photo of the "boy" was taken with my new camera! can you believe the detail? Its a fuji finepix s9000 and it rocks! still working on the macro thing. i ordered a ring adaptor..the old camera is a 52 and the new is a 58...so until i get the adaptor i cant use any of my zillion lenses. This was taken while dave was leaving for work. da vinci gets so sad when its time for daddy to leave....stares out the front door :) well...plumbing stuff continues..will be removing the disposal which i am kind of fond of. apparently the angle of the pipe is causing the problems accoring to the plumber. and you know how no home project is ever easy...well unhooked my old bathroom vanity went to hook up the new smaller one....pipes arent in the right place to put the new sink where the old one was..pipes will have to be modified..and not the pvc ones...the copper ones..frank has said he will help. we will have to go in behind the wall and reroute them. can't use the side angle because the new vanity's door hinge would line up with where the pipe has to enter. oh well. such is life. i've had off for 5 days, today being my last. boo hoo. i just looked out back and there were a bunch of doves...they are so pretty! of course i opened the door very slowly and threw some rice cakes out there but they all flew away...go figure they are staring at me with a "feed me" face then they fly away. maybe if they come back i can get some pics..cross your fingers :) have a wonderful day all!