31st post in 31 days.

Well, I did it. Here's my 31st post in 31 days.

WHEW!

My first day of my new job was awesome.

I have a migraine and I am going to bed so, good night all!

Rambling and Good News, Too!

One more day and NaBloPoMo is over for March. I might do it again, someday... but not for april, not soon.

I thought if I had to post everyday, it would somehow inspire me. Motivate me. I think the opposite has happened. The pressure of not wanting to mess it up was just too much, and when I feel like I am being forced into something... well, I hate that. Now that I can blog at my own pace, I will most likely post almost every day anyway... but I won't feel like I have to, and I will be more relaxed, and blog for me, which is what I intended this blog to be all about in the first place.

Everything has been so crazy these days. My sister was injured in a car accident and is going to be having surgery, my daughter has a pretty bad cold, I've been pretty busy with my volunteer work and the Obama campaigning, and some days I'm just tired. The coumadin I have to take every day messes with me, and I hate it. Maybe I will have more answers after my heamatologist appointment in April. (For those who don't know, I take coumadin, which is a strong blood thinner... well, actually it's rat poison haha... due to being hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism in January).

I had a point when I started typing, really I did. I guess what I am trying to say is, now that the pressure is off I will feel more relaxed and blog more freely. I love this whole concept, and I love the sense of community in some parts of the internet world. I have "met" through various online journals such as mine many awesome people. Many great moms, artists, writers. I love being a part of this and I feel like I came on strong and lately I have been so... disconnected. I know I still have readers, I see my site stats... and that's great. I still read all my faves, too. I may not comment as much as I used to but, I still love everyone as I said in an earlier post. But from now on, I am blogging for me, not because NaBloPoMo says I have to. I know it was my choice and I am glad I experienced it, I am. It has taught me that I am better off blogging for myself, and reading other blogs for my own enjoyment and education and enrichment, and for the sense of community I love so much.

I tend to ramble a lot when I'm exhausted. Heh.

Onto something a little more coherent and concrete... I got that job I wanted! I start tomorrow morning, and I am super excited. I am going to be working for a well-known, major photo company. I'm going to do lab work in a photo lab, as well as working with customers, cameras, photography equipment, etc. I am sooooooo excited about this.

It pays a lot more than my last job paid, too. I wasn't expecting that. My new manager, I like him already. He talks a lot, like I do... the "interview" was more like a fantastic conversation between two people with a common interest. So this should work out nicely.

I am also excited about all the things I am going to learn about photography now!

I have to be up bright and early for my first day, so... probably best I get my butt away from this computer and into bed, no?

Interview!

I have a job interview today, for a job that I really, really, really, really want. More details to follow... but let's just say it's a major first step in getting the career of my dreams, and I'd be working in an industry that revolves around a passion of mine.

Last year was a very rough year for me, but things are turning around. Sometimes I think bad things happen for a reason.

Whenever one door closes, another one opens... remember?

So, I need this job. Not because it pays a fortune (it doesn't, and I'm leaving something that potentially could for something that I'm passionate about, because life is too short...). I need it because I need to do what I love. I need to know that my life is moving in the direction it was meant to. I need to hold onto that hope, I need to know that I do control my own destiny and If I want my life to be a certain way, I can't just sit on my ass and cry and hope that something magical will happen and POOF things will be ok.

But, anyway...

I will update, of course!

I saw Barack Obama!!!

Haiku Friday. The OMG I GOT TO SEE BARACK OBAMA LIVE AND IN PERSON edition!

Do you see this girl?
It is I! Waiting to see
Barack Obama.



And Look! There he is.
In a photo that I took!
I got to be there!



Live and in person
So much closer than I thought
I would ever get.

I can not even begin to describe to you how completely amazing and just, awesome it was to be a part of this. I took a TON pf photos as you may have guessed, you can check them all out here at my flickr page. At least 2 pages worth of photos over there!!

I will get into details about the event here tomorrow!!

My Bad

I have not been a very good blogger. Heh.

I promise to start actually writing something substantial on here, at some point. Life gets in the way sometimes. I haven't even had a chance to read my favorite blogs recently.

I still love all of you!!

A Chance to Be a Part of History

Wordless Wednesday. and check out my new Deviant Art page!

Yay!

Guess who is going to see Barack Obama speak at a town hall meeting?? Like, live and in person? Guess!! Give up?

ME!!!

Yay!

PhotoBloggin'

I'm always adding more photos to My Flickr Page.

As I Fall Asleep On My Laptop

It's almost midnight and I have to post because of NaBloPoMo but I'm exhausted and I have nothing to write about. So I will babble I suppose.

An overview of our weekend:

Easter egg hunt. Watching a building downtown being imploded. Easter baskets. Candy! "kids" hair dye... pink and blue streaks, oh my! A new microscope and the great hunt for decent prepared slides. Cool looking insect wing x 300!

Yes this is an incoherent post but hey, I did it and March is almost over. I am soooo not doing NaBloPoMo in April. Ha.

Happy Easter!

An obvious choice for weekend snapshot!

Photo Hunter: Metal

The theme for Photo Hunter this week is metal.


The USX Tower in Pittsburgh, because steel is a type of metal.

Smiling Faces and Muddy Shoes

Friday Haiku time! (Is it really sad that I almost forgot and my 7year old daughter had to remind me?)

What is important
on this journey we are on
this journey called life

the smiles of our kids
all the innocence and awe
that they radiate



And remembering
that muddy shoes can be fun
more than a hassle



We went to a local park for a nature walk today. My hubby made fun of me for taking over 100 photos, haha. I only posted a little over 20 of them, which can be seen over here on my flickr page.

Our Family Comic Book: Part One

I can't remember how it all started, but one evening my daughter and I were drawing cartoons about our family. We drew quite a few of them, all highlighting some of the quirks we have both individually and as a family. I decided to post a few of these on my blog every so often, and here is the first installment... please disregard the lack of artistical talent. I'm not going to tell you which toons my 7 year old drew and which ones were my doing, because frankly there isn't much difference.

Five Years Too Many

I am participating in March 19th Blogswarm today.

In Memory of All Who Have Lost Their Lives in This War



Nearly 4,000 US dead, and 30,000 Wounded.

Between 100,000 and 1,000,000 Iraqis dead and 4,000,000 displaced.

Almost $1,000,000,000,000 Spent.

No One Left
- The Nightwatchman

"Each one had a father.
There's no one left.
A name and a mother.
No one left.

Each one had a dream, a prayer on their breath.
The world's gone black.
No one left.

On the streets of Manhattan,
a dusty wind blows
letters and wishes,
a girl with a rose.

On the streets of Baghdad,
a dusty wind blows
letters and wishes,
a girl with a rose.

Each one had a father.
There's no one left.
A name and a mother.
No one left.

Each one had a dream,
a prayer on their breath.
The world's gone black.
No one left.

Fire and vengeance
in the New York sky above
stole my angel,
stole my true love.

Fire and vengeance
in the Baghdad sky above
stole his angel,
stole his true love.

Each one had a father.
There's no one left.
A name and a mother.
No one left.

Each one had a dream,
a prayer on their breath.
The world's gone black.
No one left.

I stand out on my front porch.
I look up at the sky.
Will my world go black
in the blink of an eye?

He stands out in the desert.
He looks up at the sky.
Will his world go black
in the blink of an eye?

Each one had a father.
There's no one left.
A name and a mother.
No one left.

Each one had a dream,
a prayer on their breath.
The world's gone black.
No one left.

Each one had a wish.
Each one had a home.
Each one had a name,
a name and a rose."

We The People

I mentioned in my previous post that I could not find the words to tell you how I was feeling about the whole matter. Well, true to form, Barack Obama found them for me. It is long, but I urge you to listen to the entire speech.



For a complete copy of the transcript of this amazing speech, Go Here.

Your Pastor Tells You He Loves To Murder Kittens

...therefore, You must love to murder kittens! Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

I have it up to my eyebrows with this whole Obama's pastor crap. Have a mind of you own, people. Think about it.

One of the things I can't stand about politics is the digging up dirt and continual bashing. If you read Obama's book and maybe actually did a little research on the guy, you would find out that he hates that side of politics, too.

I am frustrated, because there are so many thoughts flitting around in my head and I can't find the right words to get them all out.

My father was an Obama supporter. Now he is not. Why? Because of Obama's pastor. In case you haven't heard:

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."


Apparently the pastor is also racist towards white people (Um, Hello people, Obama's Mother was white).

Anyone who cares to actually research Senator Obama's character, views, values... would know that Barack Obama does not hold the same views as this guy.

I am begging you, do a little digging of your own. You may not agree with Obama's views yourself, and that's ok... but please, please make sure they are actually his views before you decide.

So, guess what? I am still supporting the muslim, terrorist, inexperienced, unpatriotic, liberal communist, anti-christ, racist for President of the United States of America. Because I know the truth.

And for the record, it's not like there is a whole lot of true equality in the country. I'd have to say that some African Americans have the right to get a little testy at times.

I'm sorry, I just really had to vent there.

My Youth is Bent

From my Photo Blog.

"The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever."
- Dylan Thomas

Photo Blog

I started a photoblog: Click. See. Feel. Still needs some work, but go check it out!

Weekend Snapshots

I took a TON of photos this weekend. I can't post them all here, so please go to my flickr page to see all of them. I filled 3 pages over there with new photos!

This weekend, we went to the Flight 93 Memorial, and we stopped to take some cool photos on the way there and back. Here's just a few, but remember to check out the rest over here!

Weekend Snapshots:

Enjoy The Ride

Is it really time for Haiku Friday again?

Time to ride the waves
They will take me where they will
Just enjoy the ride

Stop, Look, and Listen
Life is moving around you
Don't want to miss it.

Breathe. See, Smell, and feel
It will all fall into place
So just let it be.