Introducing Butterfly

Not that I don't already have enough chaos in my life and not that I don't struggle each and everyday to try and keep organized and remember to feed the dog, I went and added more chaos to my life this past weekend.

We adopted a cat!

I grew up with cats - I don't ever remember a time in my childhood without one.

Shortly after I was married, we got a kitten and then another. And then due to allergies, we had to give them away (the doctor told him "Your allergies are so bad, tell your wife it's you or the cats". Guess I made the wrong choice.)

So this weekend I went to the shelter to check out a young cat I had seen on Petfinders.com. She was a perfect little kitty and it was too hard to walk way, especially with a four year old pleading "Can I have her Mama, please?" over and over.

The name she came with is just right - Butterfly. The older one spent all summer chasing and catching butterflies, so it ties the two nicely together.

She seems to have has no problem adjusting to her new surroundings yet. They weren't very sure of her age, but I'll find out when i take her to the vet for some shots. She's definitely young and frisky and tiny. She will stay an indoor cat, and I'm toying with the inhumane act of having her declawed.

She has made herself quite at home.

Feels Nice to Be Sought After

You probably read the title and thought I meant being sought after by a boy. Nope. Well, yes, a boy, but not like that.

Let me explain.

Last week I had a missed call from a number with an area code that I was not familiar with. No message left. Shortly after I received an email to my old account from a recruiter I connected with several years ago when I lived out of state. And then today I received yet another call and decided to answer.

Said recruiter asked if I remembered him and then said he had a job opportunity in Chicago that fit my skill set. I told him to keep me on his list, but that I was happy in my current position.

I remember back in the day when all my coworkers in consulting got contacted by recruiters all the time and I never did. Now that I have that company I left Michigan for on my resume, I'm often flagged as having a "special" skill set.

And you know what? It feels nice to be sought after, even if I have no intent on looking for a new job or moving again anytime soon.

P.S. So happy there is a proper Blogger app now :)

Under Water Mile

Well hello there little blog. I've missed you. Yes, I know I still owe you the rest of the 30 Day Photo Challenge pictures. But you see, I have yet to start editing pictures from my brother's wedding at the beginning of October. And I have a baby who hates to sleep. And my to-do lists at home and work are several miles long.

And speaking of miles, I decided to follow through with the Detroit Free Press marathon this past weekend that I signed up for back in January. Never mind that my training was no existent. I honestly only went out on two short runs all summer.

I knew going in to the run Sunday morning that I really was rather stupid. C'mon now, no training and 13 miles ahead of me? My goal was not to seriously I injure myself. And I promised myself that if I made it across the finish line (which I barely did) that I would never again commit to a run without properly training. (I did a lot of walking, a bit of jogging, and some running).

I kept praying for rain the day of the race, in which case I would have bailed on my dear friend who signed up with me. But no such luck. She picked me up at 5:30 am and off we went.

I had always wanted to do this run because you start in downtown Detroit, run the Ambassador Bridge over to Canada, run a few miles there, and then run in the underwater tunnel back to the U.S. So it's an "international" race that includes a mile long stretch under water. Not sure of any other races that can say that.

So the race is over. I hurt like hell the last few miles. But I'm glad I did it. I learned that I will never, ever do a race again without training first. And I'm hoping this is the kick-start I needed to get back in to running again.

Another New Blog?

I've been relatively quite on this blog.  My intentions were, and still are, to keep this blog free and clear of the events of the past year or so.  And that leaves me in a bit of a predicament, because I often feel like I do need to b!tch about those things that irritate me beyond belief, just to let them out, no matter how petty they may seem.  And when I sensor myself, I am left with not much to say.

I've been talking to my therapist a bit about my inner B!tch (and yes, that is with a capital "B").  Besides continuing to work with her, she said my options are limited - get an exorcism (and she said she's Jewish and doesn't know any priests) or start up a blog or a diary and write out all my b!tchy thoughts instead of running the risk of being a true B!tch to someone.  We are aiming for Nice Girl here. 

So with that said, I think I'm going to start up another blog.  Random, I know. And really, do I want to maintain another one?  I'll give it a go.  It will be under a pseudonym.  If people want to follow me there, great.  If not, no worries.  I will be using it as "therapy" to exorcise that B!tch in me.  I'd love to eventually get some of my gifted-writer friends (in real life and blogging friends) to guest post anonymously with some of the things they'd love to get off their chest.  Writing is great therapy, and sometimes a girl just doesn't want to sensor.

Anyway, drop me a comment if you want to follow along or if you want to guest post. 

Photo Challenge: Days 16 - 22

So I'm a little behind in posting my daily photo challenge pictures.  What I've found the most challenging is actually taking the picture on each and every day, and not holding off and trying to take four days' worth of pictures on one day. 

Here's a re-cap of the past week or so.

Day 16 - Long Exposure
I've never taken a long exposure picture.  Ever.  Man, this is something that could be so much fun.  Next time I'm headed to a carnival, you can be sure I will take along a tri-pod and my camera as the sun is starting to set so I can get a picture of a big ferris wheel with its lights spinning round and round. 

Sadly, my subject wasn't as exciting, but I did have fun practicing!  This is out on Michigan Ave (not the Magnificent Mile Michigan Ave) a block from my house.

Day 17 - Technology
Last week the baby threw my phone down the stairs.  The phone was out of warranty, but the nice people at Apple replaced it for $80 anyway.  And then just the other day, I dropped my phone smack-dab on the pavement.  It had a case on it.  But it just landed perfectly and shattered.  The nice people at Apple could fix the screen for $100.  And since I'm holding out for the next generation of the phone, I opted to walk away with damaged-taped-up phone in hand.  I ordered a kit from eBay for $11, and will have my techie neighbor help me fix it.  I went over two years with the same phone, and in the course of one week, damaged it twice.

Day 18 - Your Shoes
Weather was crappy and dark, so I bumped up my ISO as high as my little camera would go.  And my little model was MORE than willing to put on a pair of high heels to help me out.  She actually tried to walk in them too.  She did a better job than I do most of the time.  As a side note, I tried wearing these to work a few times, but they kill my feet.  I only wear them when heading out for the evening with the girls on the rare occasions that I get out.

Day 19 - Something Orange
I tried to get an adorable little picture of the baby's bum in one of her orange-colored cloth diapers, but it was too dark in the house on Day 19.  So I took a picture of some pumpkins at the local farmer's market a few days later.  I love fall! 

Day 20 - Bokeh
Funny, I always manage to achieve Bokeh when I'm not trying.  But when I actually turn on my camera and try to achieve it, I had some issues getting what I wanted.  Should have done a little refresher on this one before I turned the camera on. (For those wanting to be in the "know", here's a good definition of bokeh.) 

Look close, and you can see a bee on the flower.

Day 21 - Faceless Self Portrait
I don't have a remote and have yet to master the timer feature on my camera. So faceless and somewhat wordless.

Day 22 - Hands
Hand models we are not, but I love that this is me and and my girls.  And trying to get a 13 month old to hold her hand down while asking a four year old to do the same and trying to snap a picture all at the same time was rather interesting.  The whole social experiment lasted less than 40 seconds.

Day 15: Silhouette

Day 15 - Silhouette

I haven't tried to take a silhouette picture in quite some time, so I had to read up on it again.  I took The Older One out to hunt for bugs and frogs this evening, and I attempted to practice on her.  But she moved too quickly for me and was way too interested in hunting something down.

So I moved on to a subject that was a little more cooperative - a bunch of weeds. 

Day 14 - Eyes

Day 14 - Eyes

The eyes of my sister Amy. Can you see that she wears hard contact lenses?