My Sister-in-law introduced me to marble rolling pins a couple of years ago and they are the best rolling pins to use for baking. They are really great because they are so heavy that they evenly level out whatever dough you are using. Also, your dough will not stick to it since the surface is so smooth. When I was buying some house warming gifts for my sister a few weeks ago I saw one and had to pick it up! So now, I too am the proud owner of a marble rolling pin. Pie and pizza crusts don’t stand a chance!
I am finally done with my visit to my family in New York and am home. My younger sister did the drive with me and the kids and it was really nice to spend the time with her. I wanted to make sure that she at least got one day to go into DC, so we took the kids to the National Zoo yesterday and walked the entire park. After we got home we went and looked at a couple of houses with my realtor, came back home had some dinner real quick and put the kids down for bed. THEN we went to a tattoo parlor to get my eye brow pierced. Thanks Kate! All in all, a very busy day.
One thing I was really jazzed about at the zoo is that they have a goat there, and her name is Marla. I did not get a picture of Marla the goat, but I took a picture of her sign and plan on using that as an avatar in the future. As soon as I upload the image I’ll post it here.
I am a huge fan of just about anything Hayao Miyazaki has made and I have been looking forward to this movie coming to the states for some time now. I cannot wait to go see it!
Update 8/14/09: I cannot believe they are actually showing Ponyo in mainstream movie theatres! I thought I would have to take my family someplace like the Shirlington Theatre. When my husband got home today he told me that the theatre around the corner from our house was playing it and offered to go and get tickets. I ran around the house singing about how we were going to see Ponyo! It was very very cute and sweet. It wasn’t as good as I was expecting, but it was so beautiful.
I don’t usually watch tv, but since I have been visiting my family and I’m kind of on vacation I have been watching everyday. There is this one commercial that makes me cry every time I see it. I don’t know why, but I get so upset when I think of animals that are going through terrible abuse. Probably because they are not in a position to help themselves and are so alone…. It just breaks my heart. You can check out the website here, ASPCA.
I am on a medication that I cannot stop taking and because I am not in Virginia I cannot go to my doctor to get a refill. So I am taking it every two days to make it last until I can get to my doc. Since I started taking it so sporadically I have been having some really bizarre dreams every night. It’s not unheard of for me to have weird dreams, just not with the regularity I have been having them.
Last night I had this dream that I was in this strange shopping/attraction place with my family and the kids. There were weird exhibits and rides. It was like an indoor amusement park that sold designer stuff, too. I was going crazy buying purses and I was excited because each bag came with some sort of gift inside. (In reality I don’t go that nuts over bags, at least not like some women.) I had a whole bunch of bags that I was getting for really good prices and all of a sudden there were all these people with abilities, like from Heroes or X-Men. They were battling in the store, and people were dieing. I got separated from my family. I had become so focused on shopping for purses that I didn’t even know who the baby was with. I couldn’t find anyone and was frantic about the kids. The really weird part was that I couldn’t stop looking at bags even though all this stuff was happening.
Well, since I was also having a dream about superheroes, there were of course ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ The bad guys had taken out every single good guy except for this one girl. She was had short blond hair and could control the air. She could suck all the air out of building or make really powerful wind. She could also somehow freeze and control time when she sucked all the air out of a building. I know this makes no sense, but it was a dream. When everything seemed really awful and almost everyone was dead, she wound time back and a lot of people came back to life, but everything was still destroyed. I was looking everywhere for my kids, I knew they had died, but I was hoping that the blond girl had been able to save them. I don’t think I ever actually found them. It was so weird.
The night before that I had another dream that I became a Greek Goddess and I was leading these people through a very baren land. That one was so strange. Another night I had a dream I was married to a guy in prison, and I was in prison with him. We broke out when someone else killed all the guards and we stole these top secret, experimental fighter planes. A few nights ago I had a dream that was like the Titanic, but at the same time it wasn’t. There are so many other weird dreams that I have been having, too, I just don’t remember all of them. All of them are completely out of the blue, and having nothing to do with anything I have been recently doing. As soon as I get back to Virginia I have to see my doc so I can start taking my meds regularly again. It’s kind of neat having all the dreams, but some of them can be a little bit disturbing.
I just got back from going to my dear friend’s wedding. I love going to weddings, especially when I know that the couple is really really good together. It just makes me feel so good to see people really happy once they are together. It reminds me of the happiness of my own marriage and makes me feel like the world is more in tune, in harmony and all around better place because of it. I just love to feel happy for my friends.
The wedding was really cool because I saw a lot of people that I haven’t seen since I was in college. Not that I went to college with all of these guys, I just knew them all while we were all attending different places. It’s so weird seeing everyone settling down, but I guess that really starts happening once you are approaching thirty years old. Garrick and I are the only ones that actually have kids out of everyone who we knew there, but I think we are allowed since we’ve been together for so freakin’ long.
The ceremony itself was really beautiful and mercifully short. Heather looked so beautiful, loved the dress. The bridesmaids wore strapless black gowns, which I thought was super classy.
I took no pictures whatsoever, but if I can find someone who took a picture of me with the bride and groom, I’ll post it. Many well wishes to the happy newly weds.
So, something I am not looking forward to is having to relearn video. When I went to school in the Army to learn my job I had to study video in addition to still photography. While it was pretty interesting, I really like and prefer still a lot better. So I am not really looking forward to the changes that are happening in the photography world.
Everything happening in photography right now is combining those two worlds. Civilian photography is finally catching up with the Military photographers. If you like taking pictures and are really passionate about it, your competition and the work load is getting even worse. I don’t know if I want to continue to pursue this line of work if this is where it is going. I really need to weigh my options. Maybe I could continue as just an amateur photographer and turn it from being my profession to my hobby. Anyway, as my much as I enjoyed video in school, I don’t think it is something that I want to make a living out of. I know that thought process is suicide for a photographer, but I cannot help the way I feel.
