From my eyes…

It is summer in the Mid-west and I don’t have an official job to go to. It’s making it hard not to feel like I’m on vacation. The weather is unbelieveably gorgeous and I just want to spend all day at the dog park, riding bikes, jogging the nature preserve path near my home, reading/napping in my hammock. It is making it really hard to do the things that life requires - dishes, proper meals, vacuuming, laundry, etc. I just still can’t believe I live here. It’s going to be like this next summer, too! And the one after that and the one after that. I wish there was a way to capture the breeze in a photo so I could share it with you. This is the payoff for not being near my friends and immediate family - loving my home and being excited to get out of bed to enjoy it everyday.

It’s over. He did it. My little brother is married. The ceremony was beautiful with a lot of personal touches including their blankies tied in a knot (haha) over the altar. Heather did not plan her wedding this way, it was the clever pastor who though this one up. It was great. And my brother looked and acted old. And Heather was smiling ear to ear all day. The reception was fun (too much wine, but a lot of fun). The DJ had a lot of energy and got the group dancing. I think everyone had a blast. I took some pictures, but was too chaky during the ceremony itself. I left those to the wedding photographer and my Uncle Gregg. I hope to see those soon. Until then, I have my few like the one below online here.

In other news, I am back in IL and loving to be with my pets again. I just signed Abby up for beginner agility classes. We start next week and I can’t even tell you how excited I am! It’s going to be great and if you live in IL you will be expected to be at any recital type thing we have (Hint: That’s you, Gustkes!). I also found a summer camp I’ll be saving for to take Abby to next year. Seriously, how cool does this look!

I am still trying to land a teaching job for next year. I’ve applied and applied, so now I can only wait. Sigh. That’s very hard for a type A person to do. Eek!

This weekend me and the “kids” are headed up north to my aunt and uncle’s abode. We’ll hang out there a bit and then I am going to the car races with my cousins while my aunt “baby-sits”. I’ve never been, and though I prefer Indy cars to Nascar, it’ll be exciting to be in the environment.

I hope you’ve been well!

This weekend was one of my future sister-in-law’s showers. It was a lingerie shower and then the legal aged gals headed out for the bachelorette party. I was lame and didn’t get but a few pictures. Here’s one.

The shower itself was hosted by Heather’s younger sister, who did a really nice job of planning some creative games and keeping everyone well fed an entertained. And the best lingerie, besides the edible undies I got her, was from her youngest sister - it involved a serious amount of fringe!  She refused to allow pictures, but she did model it for us

The wedding is on Saturday and I will certainly remember to get my camera out.

I was watching the Today Show today. Yeah, because I didn’t have to go to work. You probably missed it being part of the working world and all. Sorry had to rub it in. It’s one of the joys of teaching. Don’t wory come Septemeber I’ll be cursing employment, bosses, co-workers, broken printers, and messed up computer files along with the rest of you. Oh and I get to meet a bunch more kids to deal with at the same time. HA!

Anyway, on the Today show they had this guy do part of this dance. I loved it, found it online, and decided it must be shared. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/v/dMH0bHeiRNg

I still hate Sony. They have terrible customer service, beyond terrible! Sadly, I love their products, so they will continue to take my money for the camera acessories I purchase - like the new zoom lens that I am finally able to use after the ordering, returning, and reordering of the approrpiate adapter all at the fault of Sony, but expense of me. Sigh.

Here is what my new lens can do.

This is with no zoom at all.

This is with my camera as zoomed as it can go.

This is with my new zoom lens. Nice, huh?

Now I realize that these are not good pictures. That is not what I was going for. I just wanted to show what awesome zoom capabilities I have with my little digital cybrshot. I can’t wait to actually use the lens for some good shots!!

** model Abby-Doo Bennett.

It took me a while to find a radio station I liked to listen to on the way to work. I had one that I loved for the music they play, but I actually enjoy talk radio (but not NPR first thing). I finally found a station I’ve been listening to for about a month now. They have a morning question and it is fun to listen to how the callers respond. This morning’s question was: What is the best invention since you were born? A lot of people called in with answers like the Internet, cell phones, digital anything and everything. Some had answer like curling iron and remote control. Afew silly men called in to say breast implants and cosmetic surgery. It really got me thinking, what is the best invention since I’ve been alive? I wonder what my parents generation would answer?

I think my top 3 would be the generic technological answers like cell phone, Internet (with wireless connection), and hybrid cars.

What do you think are the top 3 inventions since you’ve been born?