07-07-11

Here’s an action shot for my photography class. I also walked down the block to get a foliage shot. Six prompts down, four to go. Nice to have the sun shining, such a rare thing lately! Anastasia has started track, but I don’t get off early enough to capture her in motion. So here’s Xander looking into the sun to catch a football. I like how everything but his face and upper body is soft focus.

04-06-11

My on-line photography class starts Monday.

I have pre-class assignments. Mostly photos to take, probably to see improvement through the class.

So one prompt is a favorite object in your home. My home is full of favorite objects, that’s what home is. I thought of the willow trees of my rooster in the kitchen, or various items hanging on the wall. Then I realized it had to be our swan painting. A treasured belonging that reminds us of our early poor years. Rent was $385/month, dinner was Rice-a-Roni, and this painting was a huge indulgence that I knew I’d always regret not having.

I’ll use a color version for the class, but I really liked this result from the Film Grain mode. This camera even has a Food mode!

04-05-11

My new camera is here!

Bruce is teasing me about getting a blue one, but I actually had multiple criteria: much smaller than my current beast, a powerful zoom, good megapixel, rechargeable battery, a good feel, and a different color was a creative bonus. I ended up getting a Panasonic DMC-ZR3, hoping that sticking with the same brand would make the learning curve easier.

Had fun walking around the house shooting photos, and looking forward to my on-line photography class starting Monday.

04-04-11

Monday. A busy day at work closing the books and chasing storm damage bridge spending, a busy day for Bruce chasing tenant issues, a busy day for Anastasia learning new anatomy terms in Science class, and… Xander drooled over the brownie in his TV dinner.

Attended a dinner party with friends. Thumbs up to the house with wonderful paint colors and decorations (nativity scenes up year round!), to the fellowship and laughs, and to their interesting barn. I wasn’t packing my camera, so a coatless Bruce got soaking wet to get me this photo.

04-03-11

Not sure whether to blog this as a sister day or a rental day.

We spent from lunch to dinner on rentals non-stop. Finalized paperwork to not buy the latest house, tenant verification phone calls, e-mails and web searches, unit walk through and rental agreeement signing, taking advantage of good weather and electricity to prune and garden, and rushing to get procrastinated projects done before new tenants move in.

On the sister front, today is my sisters 40th birthday. Happy birthday Shanna! And our other sister was discussing e-readers with her brother when the flashing lights appeared in his rear view. "Get a headset!" was the officers advice. I say learn to let it ring, let it buzz, and stop making excuses.

04-02-11

Here’s a house we decided not to buy today. Just not at all what we were expecting once we got inside. It has existing tenants, so we waited for inspection to see it. Scrap the offer, scrap the loan, walked through a fix-up project, regroup.

On the existing rental home front, we have not been successful in catching any cats today despite multiple attempts, but they seem to be gone fromt he porch, which is really the end goal. And we are cautiously optimistic about quickly finding new tenants.

04-01-11

With feeling crummy, I’ve been curling up with a good book lately. Not my Bible, devotional, or mission trip assigned reading like I should be, but another Jane Kirkpatrick read about Oregon trail wagon trains being wiped out by cholera.

Here’s hat I read first quarter. Historical fiction about WW2 in Hong Kong and Oregon settlements in Lewis & Clark times, more books about real estate investing, book club picks, and books on my shelf forever.

Most Intriguing: The Art Thief by Noah Charney

Characters who are like old friends: A Mending at the Edge (Emma Geisy of Aurora colony) and Morality for Beautiful Girls (Mma Ramotswe of Ladies Detective Agency) Authors who feel like old friends: Orchard Valley Grooms by Debbie Macomber and Vanishing Acts by Jodi Piccolt.

Happy reading!