Today’s events

Would you believe we went back to the fair? Yep, tonight after Character Builder got home from work, we all headed out. The kids rode the rides and played games. And of course, we had a few more things to eat. I think we’re pretty much “faired out.”

I took a bunch of kid pics in the hopes of getting one good enough to put this free photo canvas coupon to good use. But alas, it seems all I got out of it was a little learning about my new umbrella and light stand.

I also learned a bit about creating triptychs in Photoshop. Like it would be a good idea to have the same “top margin” in all three shots since they’re so similar. But that’s experience I’ll put to good use next time, because I need to get to bed (it’s 2:15!). Good night!

Pass the Pepto

Today’s diet (in order of consumption) included:

1. A corn dog.
2. Southwest chorizo egg burrito from Tejas.
3. Ribs from Famous Dave’s.
4. Chocolate chip cookies from Sweet Martha’s.
5. Milk to go with the cookies.
6. Cheese curds . . . of course!
7. Hotdish (that’s casserole, if you live outside the Midwest) on a stick with cream of mushroom dipping sauce.
8. Famous Dave’s ribs . . . again.
9. Deep-fried Snickers bar.

Dashababy commented the other day when I referenced Ricky Ricardo in my post, so I thought of her when I saw this crop art today:

The portrait is made entirely of seeds, which is why it’s called crop art. I’m amazed by how much detail and subtle shading it has. And here’s a bonus pic for you Lucy fans:

Tidbits from the road

Well, we made it to Minnesota safe and sound. And it seems like we’ve been stuffing our faces ever since we got here. Ham, potato salad, unbelievably awesome coconut cake, baked French toast, hamburgers on the grill, Chinese from Leeann Chin, and awesome toasted macaroni and cheese from this place:

After we returned from Florida last month, a gift card for Lettuce Entertain You restaurants arrived in our mailbox. It was a gift from Suzie and the Hubs, and we were quite surprised and very excited—she had emailed my sister to find out what Twin Cities restaurants we like. One of our favorites is Big Bowl. Both Big Bowl and Twin City Grill are owned by this company, so we used some of the gift today and we’ll hit Big Bowl before we leave town. Thanks, Suzie and Hubs!

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Character Builder’s youngest, Lauren, is quite a pistol. Somehow we got on the subject of where we live.

Sharkey: I live in Pennsylvania. Where do you live?
Lauren: Falicornia.

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Alex is growing like a weed. I was playing around with off-camera flash in my parents’ backyard yesterday and managed to get a decent shot of him.

I should’ve asked him to put down the stick and get rid of the Tomagotchi (sp?) around his neck, but oh well . . . he’s a 10 year-old kid. And I guess that’s why God invented Photoshop.

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Finally, this is what greeted us in the guest room at Character Builder’s today:

I think it’s Catherine’s handiwork. I’m not sure what P.H.T.F.P. stands for (any guesses?). I was impressed that she could spell Presbyterian, and that she got the accent (what’s that thing really called?) right over the e in Pokemon. Not bad for a seven year-old, huh?

Over & Out

Well, my last post has moved from “withering” on the vine to outright dead. I’ve been busy trying to wrap things up before we leave on vacation tomorrow, and consequently the blog has been neglected.

I’m still getting used to the MacBook. Mostly it’s good, but I seem to have trouble with some of the keys. Especially the G, and sometimes the T—they just aren’t quite responsive enough, and soon I’ll be writing like Ricky Ricardo: “I’ve been busy tryin to wrap thins up.” (My proofreading skills have a tendency to decline after 1:00 AM.)

Hey, speaking of the Mac and 1:00 AM . . . does anyone know how to adjust Blogger’s timestamp on a Mac? On this computer, I don’t have the Compose tab and the HTML tab—everything’s HTML. I can deal with that, but I also don’t have the date/timestamp info at the bottom of the page.

J.P., Maggie, and I are taking a road trip to MN. We had great intentions of getting the car all packed tonight, but I haven’t even started packing my suitcase yet. And I think we’ll have more electronics than clothes. Between the camera, two or three laptops, the GPS, iPod, and cell phones, the cigarette lighter power plugs will be at a premium. We even bought an adapter so we can plug in the laptop during the trip. Now if only we could get satellite internet, I’d be all set (J.P. will likely do most of the driving).

We don’t have any big plans for our time in Minnesota. We’ll go to the state fair, of course. If you don’t know much about it, you really should go and read J.P.’s recent post. Besides all the food, walking around with 100,000 other Minnesotans makes for some interesting people watching.

But at 1:40 AM, about the only thing I’m interested in watching is the back of my eyelids. I’m sure I’ll be posting at least a few times from the road (I know, I know . . . you can hardly wait). Until then, Sharkey out!

Busy weekend

Have you ever spent any time trying to write with your non-dominant hand? Your brain knows how to form the letters, but somehow it has trouble directing your hand to move in the direction you know it needs to go. That’s how I’m feeling right now because we got a new computer this weekend, and it’s a MacBook. It has a keyboard and a mouse and a screen, but everything else is different enough that I have that weird sensation of writing with my left hand. I’ll leave the particulars about the computer to J.P., as it’s really his story to tell. And he has accompanying photos!

Friday I got a haircut! Woohoo—aren’t you excited? It’s sad, but I was. You see, my hair had been driving me crazy! And I thought my appointment was this coming Friday, so I was prepared to deal with it for one more week. Good thing they left a reminder message on the machine, or I would’ve missed it.

In the afternoon, my freshly-cut hair and I went to the home of our neighbor’s daughter. Said daughter had a daughter two months ago, and I was to take pictures. It was my first session with someone I didn’t really know, so I was a little nervous. But despite spit-up and a little crankiness (on the baby’s part, not mine!), I think it went okay. The piggy pic above is my favorite one. (I know, Suzie, you’re really surprised about that.)

Yesterday was a flurry of rehearsing and cleaning and gift-shopping and painting and entertaining. We really should entertain more often, because it means the house gets cleaned. And boy did this house need it! It’s so nice to feel the clean kitchen floor underfoot. Not nice enough to do it more often, mind you, but nice nonetheless.

For dinner with our friends, J.P. grilled salmon and orange roughy, and we dined al fresco so we could enjoy the beautiful weather. Then it was inside for brownies and a rousing game of Uno with a six year-old.

Today I played at both the 8:00 and 9:30 services at church, and then we went to a baptism luncheon. I should’ve finished painting shutters this afternoon, but I decided to read for a while first. I got through a few chapters and realized a nap was in order. That was pretty much the rest of my afternoon, and it also explains why I’m still wide awake at 12:30.

Will I never learn?