Tag Archive | "NaBloPoMo"

Photography 1/365

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Photography 1/365

Posted on 25 January 2009 by MommyKnows

I need a photography challenge, a reason to pick up my camera each day.

It sounds odd, but I love to have photos, to look at them (mine and yours), but I hate taking them. I want to be a better photographer. I once took a class, but I didn’t do my homework. Maybe I do like taking photo’s, I just don’t like getting organized to take photos. You know getting up to get the camera, finding the camera, choosing the settings (hahaha choosing the settings — like I know what that means), changing the lens, replacing the batteries in the flash. If I only had an assistant, a good looking, muscular assistant with a hot bod, 30 something — oh yeah, I do, he’s just busy with the kids and the cooking (bwahahaha)!

I suppose then, that I like photography like I like scuba diving or downhill skiing. The results are enjoyable, but getting ready … OH, what a pain in the keester! Being a lazy being means it’s a miracle I have ever attempted these sorts of activities more than once!

Back to the challenge, I’ve decided to join Project 365 –> take a photo everyday and upload it to the flickr group.

I heard that SIGH, that GROAN, the ‘as if’ under your breath! I know I dropped out of the 365blog thing, but this will be different, it’s just a photo! I think photography takes practice and I hope this will give me the just the practice I need. Don’t forget –> I stuck with the 30 Tiny Moments and the NaBloPoMo.

1/365 - Not a Great Start
1/365 – Not a Great Start!

Hey, give the kid a break, it’s only day one of a very, very long year!

MK xo
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Goodbye NaBloPoMo

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Goodbye NaBloPoMo

Posted on 30 November 2008 by MommyKnows

NaBloPoMo it’s been one hell of a month. I started the MS drugs. I traveled by car across a continent (2 countries, 1 province, 6 states) with 3 kids, survived 3 theme parks, 2 national parks and 2 flat tires. Fell way behind on the laundry. Held my head up high during Georgia’s fashion crisis. I am pretty sure the laundry and fashion crisis aren’t connected. Suffered a relapse (a very minor one) of my MS and still I didn’t forget about you.

It has to be said though, you’ve worn out your welcome. Your nagging presence is no longer wanted. Goodbye NaBloPoMo. Good riddance, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, or do, I don’t care.

Don’t call me, I’ll call you.

georgia at the window
You keep watch Georgia, and make sure he actually leaves.

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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Great Content and No Readers

Posted on 29 November 2008 by MommyKnows

If this sounds like you, Chuck Westbrook has a plan.

How Can You Help End the Problem of Blogs With Great Content and No Readers? Click on the link above.

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Lizzy loves Chocolate …

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Lizzy loves Chocolate …

Posted on 29 November 2008 by MommyKnows

Lizzy loves chocolate, well any sweets really. She also likes crafts.

This morning we made some chocolate lollipops from a Wilton kit.

My creation
Lizzy loved it — Can’t you tell.

Thanks for all your kind comments and emails. I am actually feeling much better. The doctor actually made me go into the hospital to see him. I have to report ALL symptoms to a study nurse as part of my drug trial. However, by the time the doctor got back to me, I was feeling nearly 100%, I felt like I was wasting his time and mine. Oh well. All’s well that ends well.

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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The Miracle of Photoshop (& Lightroom)

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The Miracle of Photoshop (& Lightroom)

Posted on 26 November 2008 by MommyKnows

Remember a few days ago, I told you about my camera settings being messed up and me being too lazy to notice until we got home?

Oh, you don’t? Well read this! http://mommyknows.com/damncameradamnkid/ – The bottom bit is even kinda funny.

If you went back and read that, you are now aware that I had to cancel the ‘Guess that Canyon’ contest due to the worlds crappiest holiday photos.

In an effort to salvage a few I spent sometime this evening with Photoshop (& Lightroom) editing photos. Not so I can hold the contest (which I might), but because I want some holiday photos dagnabbit. The chances of me driving through ‘Where in the hell are we?, USA’, (honest, I think that it what it was called) again soon are slim.

I call this one ‘Road to Nowhere’ – Before Photoshop (& Lightroom)

Road to Nowhere, USA
This is such a dismal place Mr. MK, why would you drive me way out into the middle of ‘Where in the hell are we? … why?

I call this one ‘Road to Somewhere’ – After Photoshop (& Lightroom)

Road to Somewhere, USA
‘Where in the hell are we? is kind of a pretty spot, eh? Just where I wanted to be thank you honey!

Psst … it really was orange and gorgeous like this … even the road.

Tonight, I am thankful for Photoshop. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? (Say me … go on say it).

To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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Cruella, Cruella … De Vil

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Cruella, Cruella … De Vil

Posted on 25 November 2008 by MommyKnows

I’ve been tagged — AGAIN. Well not really, I am lying, I wasn’t tagged I am just OUT, OUT, OUT of ideas to blog about. I did what any sorry-assed NaBloPoMo blogger does on the 25th day of her self-induced torture and I tagged myself (courtesy of Safire).

Psst …
Go and see Safire’s twin baby boys and leave her some blog love comments. She too, is doing NaBloPoMo and the babies aren’t sleeping.

Here are the rules:
Go to your photos and open the 4th folder.
Post the 4th picture in your folder.
Tag 4 more people. Seeing as I am tagging myself, I am also making up my own rules. I am canceling the tag rule and adding a New rule: Answer the question below.

Me and Lizzy in Disney
Ah, surprisingly (today stinks), this just happens to be the perfect photo. Who would have thunk it, eh? Perfect because I feel MEAN today, which is exactly what Georgia said to Cruella our first five minutes in Disneyland.

I. DON’T. LIKE. YOU. –> YOU. ARE. MEAN.

Which is quite understandable, considering she is the lover of small dogs (not rabbits).

If she were home, and not on a short vacation to Grandma’s, she’d be telling me the same thing today. She’d be right, I am down right dissatisfied and I want to make a coat out of dalmatian pups. Fine, the part about the dalmatian pups is a lie too. You got me.

Here’s the last part of the Meme/Tag –> Answer this question: Which Disney Character are you today?

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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Damn Camera Settings … Damn Kid …

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Damn Camera Settings … Damn Kid …

Posted on 23 November 2008 by MommyKnows

You probably think that I like taking photos, right? If you said right, you’d be wrong. I quite dislike it. I hate getting out the camera, adjusting the settings, trying to figure out the best angle, where the light is. Are there shadows? The more I learn, the more critical I become, the more mistakes I see, the worse the photos get.

Mr. MK is a really swell kind of guy. If there is anyone reading this, that knows Mr. MK, this is when you’d comment and agree with me. Because he is so darn swell, he carried the heavy camera for me pretty much the entire holiday. Being lazy, I set the camera on the ‘P’ setting (about as Auto as my camera gets) and just snapped pictures. They all looked really dark on the camera’s display, but the display is hard to see in the bright sun, so I just let it be. I did comment a few times that, “my pictures SUCK”, and then forget about them. Whenever, I said that Mr. MK had to look and fiddle, which bugs me because he has no clue how my camera works!

It was one of those holidays where you drag your ass back to your hotel room about 10 pm with 3 tired kids, legs worked to death thanks to your new MBT shoes and then you thank God you snapped a couple of photos on your iPhone, so you don’t have to download/upload/edit your camera photos for that days blog post. In short, I didn’t bother looking at the photos on my computer until I got home.

BIG freakin’ mistake … they’re all DARK, under-exposed, upon further inspection of my camera, a setting had been adjusted (about 2 days into the vacation) to making all my photo’s 6 stops darker than ‘auto’ and they so, so, so suck. Hmmm … could some swell guy be responsible for this? Hmmm? Could he?

I have managed to salvage a few, however, the beautiful landscapes of Utah aren’t in the salvaged few. I think I may have to scrap the “Guess that Canyon” contest. *SIGH* Don’t cry, really, it will be OK. It was just a contest and the prize probably would have sucked. REALLY! Who wants a trip to the Grand Canyon anyway. NOT ME. HA.

Even worse than the camera settings, were the subjects! The holiday was filled with, “OH Moooooms!” and “the suns in my eeeeyeees!” and “I feel stupid”. Good grief! They better not dare complain when they’re older and there’s not a single great picture of this trip.

Here we are in the wilds of Utah …

Me: Georgia, smile at mommy
No Smiling in Utah

I should have quit, while I was ahead.

Me: NO, look at me and smile.
No Smiling in Utah

Me: That’s not looking at me. GEORGIA. SMILE. LOOK. AT. ME. AND. SMILE. Be a good girl and I’ll Give you a gumball.
No Smiling in Utah

Me: A gumball … a yummy pink gumball.
No Smiling in Utah

Me: Georgia … do you want Mummy to eat your gumball? Do YA? HUH? ‘Cause I will you little shi …
No Smiling in Utah

That’s when I noticed the elderly couple watching us! They were lovely (from St. Paul, MN … loved her blonde hair, just like their 5 year old granddaughters), they wondered if she were 5. Nope just three …. AHHH … they said all knowing. Just about then, Georgia escaped.

Three really does explain so much, maybe even my camera settings, right Mr. MK?

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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ListMania (enter Power Ranger’s giveaway here)

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ListMania (enter Power Ranger’s giveaway here)

Posted on 22 November 2008 by MommyKnows

I was tagged by Outside Voice.

Anyone reading this has been tagged too!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not really, my mom said she liked the actress Kim Novak.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Today while reading ‘On Strike for Christmas’ by Sheila Roberts. It’s a light, entertaining sort of read, but I am a softie (so I’ve been told).
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, hardly ever.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Spam, just kidding. I like left over turkey for turkey sandwiches. I don’t eat sandwiches much, I hate making them.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably, depends how nicely I asked.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Can Wayne Gretzky skate?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS. Yes, I have had 3 surgeries set up to have them out in the past couple of years and I keep doing a ‘no show’.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Sunny Boy/Red River hot cereal. I like Shredded Wheat too.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I’d like to think so, probably not emotionally, but definitely I could kick most women’s butts, and a few smaller men.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Jamocha Almond Fudge from B&R.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I don’t know, I think I take in the whole picture. Probably the first sentence they speak is more important than my first visual impression.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The way I look.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Grandma Fred.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Am I sending this? I must have missed the instructions. Now I’m all stressed out.
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I have bare feet at the moment, but I will spend a lot of the winter in my brown Uggs.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Booster Juice.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? I can faintly hear the TV on in the livingroom, I am in bed with my laptop.
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Tea reminds me of Denmark. I also like my Tom’s of Maine honeysuckle deodorant.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Elizabeth.
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes! She’s a rock star
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Hockey on TV and Baseball in person.
27. HAIR COLOR? Blonde/Brown
28. EYE COLOR? Blue.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Lobster.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I much prefer a happy ending.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Quarantine –> it was terrible.
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Apple Pie or Apple Crisp.
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Whoever feels like it
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND. Whoever doesn’t feel like it
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? ‘The Queen’s Fool’ by Phillipa Gregory.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don’t use a mouse pad. Right now it is my knee covered by my comforter.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Mentalist (first time … it was OK).
42. FAVORITE SOUND. Georgia’s happy voice.
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles!
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? I’ve been on an around the world trip. I suppose it would have to be Thailand or Singapore.
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can flip my eyelids inside out.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Rimbey, Alberta.
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? All the people that I tag: JennB @ thedailyburns.com, Linda @ mytrendytykes, Carey @ sunnydaysatthebeach, Anastasia, momontherun, Madeline @ myboyandme, Safire @ livinginmaryland.

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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You Know You Love Me (enter Power Ranger giveaway here)

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You Know You Love Me (enter Power Ranger giveaway here)

Posted on 21 November 2008 by MommyKnows

Recently overheard in a California hotel suite very early in the morning. A wee girl is jumping up and down on her sleeping brother.

Sam: Geooooorgiaaaa … get off meeeee.

Georgia: Come on Sam, you know you love me.

Jump, jump, jump.

Georgia: You love to play with me.

Jump, jump, jump.

Georgia: You love to hug me.

Hug, smooch, hug.

Sam: Heeheehee! Oh Georgia!

You Know You Love Me Sam
And you know what? I think she just might be right!

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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BlogRoll Call  & Roll Call (enter Power Ranger giveaway here)

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BlogRoll Call & Roll Call (enter Power Ranger giveaway here)

Posted on 19 November 2008 by MommyKnows

I’ve been humming and hawing over what to do with my blogroll –> it’s that list on the right that says ‘OTHER BLOGS I LIKE’. You see, it’s not really accurate, I like and read WAY more blogs than that. Essentially, if you comment here, I read your blog. The problem is … I want MY blog to be nice and neat (I don’t care about yours, so don’t be insulted if you have a blogroll as long as your arm on your main page), therefore, the list is short. I find those long, long lists in the margins unappealing, ugly even.

I have decided then, to have a BlogRoll page see the very top black menu bar … click on BlogRoll. A spot where a really, really long list won’t bother me.

blogroll & roll call

If you’d like to see your blog on this list please leave a comment with your ‘blog name’ and ‘url’. I’ll add it to the list. :)

If you’d like to return the favor, I’d really appreciate it!

Name: MommyKnows
Url: http://mommyknows.com

Warning: if your blog name is ‘winter tires’ and your url is: usedtiresforsaleontheweb.com (or something else commercial and similar) –> chances are I won’t be listing your blog.

If you don’t have a blog, but read this one let me know by commenting below as well. You can say, “here, present, yo teach, delurking, hi, I’m here, shy in Pennsylvania” … you get the idea. Just let me know that you are here! If you’d like to go a step further and be listed on the blogroll page as a reader you could give me your name and location and I’ll add you to me BlogRoll Readers section (example: Cindi, Ohio). EASY!

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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