I have no idea what to title this post

I finished my eight week condensed course and now have four more college credits to my name. The class took up a lot of my time especially the second half of it and now work has me incredibly busy. This makes finding time to blog difficult and the inspiration isn't so easy. I spend about three hours a day commuting due to the location of Mini Red's camp. Quite a few topics have crossed my mind during the long hours in the car but when it comes time to sitting down and writing it out I'm finding other things that need to be done.

This weekend Mini Red and I have been under the weather. When I picked her up from camp on Friday she was sniffing and sneezing like crazy. I had been fighting a migraine all day and couldn't get out of work early since there was so much to do. The evening plans had changed and Mini Red and I were staying in. This meant no blogger happy hour for me this month.

Mini Red and I did get out and make it to the company picnic on Saturday after much debate. I was hoping the heat and just getting out would help and it did. It was a good thing we went because there weren't many people in attendance. Not one of our executives showed up. The company has gone through some major changes in the last year and it has been very scary and difficult for those of us that have stayed/survived. Things have been getting better but the lack of executives at the picnic was quite a blow to many of us and gives a bad impression of how they (The Executives) feel about the company and it's future.

After the picnic we were exhausted. The drive home seemed to take forever and we were looking forward to putting on a movie and taking a nap. Mini Red pulled out the blow up mattress and made herself comfortable and I crashed on the couch.

Sunday brought more laziness and trying to figure out how to transfer VHS to DVD while suffering another migraine. We also watched home movies from when Mini Red was little little little. Oh how she has changed and I would love to revisit her at that age and just hug her. My favorite was at the age of almost four, on Christmas morning Mini Red was lead into the room with the gifts under the tree. When she saw everything she exclaimed in a high pitched voice, "Look at all the stuff!" Aww she is so cute and I would love to have another. Mini Red says I could just have one injected since I don't have a man. How cute is she?

We then reluctantly ran out to get groceries for the coming week during the thunderstorm and this helped both of us a lot. We enjoyed walking through the rain in and out of the store plus Mini Red was a huge help and made this chore enjoyable because we worked together.

As for my course I learned some really fun stuff that can be done with Photoshop. My third assignment was my favorite. In this assignment we were to show what we learned about channels and creating highlights and shadows among other things like rays of sunlight. I used two of my own photos and four stock photos. I added shadows and rays and used filters. Here are the photos I used:

My end result:

Mini Red’s Night out on the town with Scythian

This all came about when Nicole came to town from Chicago. Her stay got extended and I got an email about the dates Scythian added to their tour. Namely, the CD release party at Flanagan’s Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda. We could all get together see Nicole and listen to some Scythian. This was the perfect chance for Mini Red to finally see them live.

Mini Red has been listening to Scythian for some time now and they have been a real inspiration to her. To see them live was extremely exciting for her.

I made a reservation and my inquiries got us a table smack dab in the middle of it all. I was surprised at how quiet and calm Mini Red was on our way to H&F but that all changed when we sat down. Our group trickled in and I can’t tell ya how nice it is to gather with a good number of friends and listen to some great music. I had been anxious for this evening all week because it just don’t get no better than this.

Mini Red watched intently as the crew was setting up. She would elbow me and say, “Look Mom there’s a Scythian guy. Isn’t that one of them?” Nicole went with Mini Red to go say hi to Dan. For some reason as Mini Red has gotten older she has become shy. She didn’t want to take any pictures and sat rather quietly as Scythian was starting up. I guess I can’t really blame her since she was the only kid there. I would feel out of place especially with so many staring when they realized there was a young girl in the crowd. Plus the adults dancing must have been a sight to her. I know it takes me aback at times too.

By the end of Scythian’s first set Mini Red and I were dancing in our seats. We decided to get ready to leave but then I saw Leks was in the middle of the dance floor and I suggested that Mini Red go up and say hi and get a picture. She didn’t want to do this and I couldn’t understand why. When I offered to go up with her she agreed. She told him she plays the violin and they chit chatted. She told him what an inspiration Scythian has been to her and how this was such a special night since it was the first time she got to experience Scythian live. Leks told her to practice, practice, and practice and told me not to ever let her give up her music. I suggested going up to other band members but she didn’t want to do it. On the way home Mini Red thanked me many times for a great evening. We discussed her not wanting to approach the band and she told me she was afraid they would think she was a freak. I told her they would love to hear how they inspire her and she shouldn’t worry about what others think because in the end she would have regrets and wish she had approached the other band members as she did with Leks.

She then said there was another reason she didn’t want to approach them. Her face already hurt too much from smiling and to meet more of them would make her cheeks hurt even more.


It was a special night and we shared it with some great friends. Everyone seemed to be watching Mini Red for her reactions to it all. One of our friends said, “This will be a night she will remember the rest of her life.” Mini Red agrees.

Thanks guys for another great show. You are truly talented.

My Surfer Girl

Mini Red and I were at the beach in the beginning of July. It was chilly but she was in the water none-the-less. She is very good at staying in our sight because none of us were ready to brave the cold water with her. At one point my Father expressed his concern about how far out she was. When I said, "She's the strongest swimmer in the family and handling it great" is when I realized it was true and stopped worrying, but I'm still keeping an eye on her.

Vacation is in less than two weeks and I've scheduled surf lessons for Mini Red. We are both very excited! I plan on sitting on the beach with my coffee watching the lessons in the morning and in the afternoons Mini Red and I will jump waves together.

After our week at the beach Mini Red gets to stay for a second week with Grandma and I get to go back to work. That's when the two of them will do the water park. Yup, my Mom does most of the slides right along with her but I don't think I be posting photos of my Mom running into the water like Mini Red is above.