17 Years Today! Happy Anniversay Alan :)

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."

-Mignon MacLaughlin, The Second Neurotics Notebook, 1966


Another reason to love October, it's the month our wedding anniversary falls in. :) Today we have plans to stay home, and watch spooky movies all day, then later in the afternoon, we have plans to go out to dinner. Something insanely expensive, and completely decadent I am sure. I have been taking really good care of myself and monitoring my diabetes closely, so I think one night of being nutritionally naughty will be fine. After we get home from dinner, we will probably cuddle up and watch our favorite movie, "So I Married An Axe Murderer." LOL. Yep, it's our movie! :)

17 years! I can't believe it's been that long, it has all gone by so quickly. Even the moments that seemed to move at a crawl, and the moments when I was out of my mind in pain, have gone by in a blink. Alan takes such good care of me, and most importantly, forgives my mistakes before I even make them. We have grown as a couple, and we have allowed each other to grow as people. And after all this time, he doesn't look a day older to me, then he did on our wedding day in 1990! LOL. He's still looks exactly the same. :) I kinda like that guy. ;) Happy Anniversary Alan!

Love, Carly

Autumn Most Fowl :)

"Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason horses and birds are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses."

-Dale Carnegie

It was another good day with the camera yesterday. Lots, and lots of cloud cover, as the first big storm of the season was just off shore. I kind of like photographing birds, and flowers, when the sky is milky and overcast. The natural filtering tends to take the glare off of some types of birds, like this Blue Heron. I have been trying to photograph one just like it at the Palace of Fine Arts, for the last month or so. Each time under lots of sun, and a pretty blue, clear sky. And each time there was a tremendous amount of glare, which left the bird mostly washed out.

It was extremely frustrating. I tried multiple settings, no no avail. So I was thankful to find this one while I was in Golden Gate Park yesterday. I spent about 30 minutes, taking note of the differences in the small pond this one was in, as opposed to the larger one at the palace. Maybe in a week or so, I will go back to the palace, and give it another chance. Lots of terrain to work with over there, so maybe I just need to practice a little more patience, or perhaps study things a little deeper. We'll see. Either way, it's always good to have a goal to look forward to in my photography.

It was definitely a birding day yesterday. I spent a little time yesterday, down in Half Moon Bay, at Lemos Pumpkin farm, and there was a lot of critters following me around, especially the chickens and ducks. Neither one was particularly shy, which made it very enjoyable. I will revisit there again soon, hopefully before the end of the month. I love the little farms during this time of year, everything is so fresh and inviting. It just has a vibe that only comes along at Halloween. It's good for the soul, especially the weary soul. :)



-OndineMonet
Half Moon Bay, California
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
October 9th, 2007
Afternoon

Steven's Feline Friday: What Elvis Sees

"A dog will show his love by jumping on you at the front door. A cat will show his love by ignoring you, and then curling up next to you when you need it most."

-Danielle Asson

We had a lot of fun with Elvis yesterday. He was in a happy playful mood, and the weather was just right. A perfect autumn day. Alan, Elvis and I spent the first day of our vacation, in the backyard, doing a little maintenance, looking for flying creatures, and generally having fun. There were lots of small, brown skippers flying about, so I had a chance to get in some time with the camera, practicing some macro shots. Elvis loves the little skippers, he watches them dart in and out of the flower garden, as they pass under the awing were the table is.

It was a little difficult to keep his attention, as I tried to take his photo, so rather than annoy him, I just gave up and tried to follow his gaze, rather than work for a portrait of him. I ended up with a lot of nice candid shots of him. Lots of action and wonder. I was able to see in his eyes, what he sees. He is a happy little guy these days, and his over all heath seems to have improved a great deal. I think we might do a video soon, he likes the camera, which will make doing the video a breeze. :) Maybe we will do that this year for Halloween, weather permitting of course. We're off to a good start of the vacation season!

Have you played Feline Friday yet? It's a lot of fun. Just pay a visit to my friend Steven's blog, "(sometimes) photoblog" to meet his kitty Pickle, and find out all the details.

-OndineMonet
"What Elvis Sees"
Berkeley, California
October 8th, 2007
Afternoon

Flying Into The Glass

"A vacation is what you take, when you can no longer take what you have been taking."

-Earl Wilson

Vacation
By The Go-Go's

Can't seem to get my mind off you
Back here at home there's nothing to do
Now that I'm away
I wished I'd stayed
Tomorrow is a day of mine you won't be in...

Yay! It's finally here, well it will be at exactly 6 O' Clock this morning. See, that's when our vacation officially begins, and it can't come a moment too soon. :) Alan is taking his usual 3 weeks off, and we will probably do some of our usual traditions, like trips to San Luis Obispo, Reno, and Half Moon Bay, but we may actually do a couple new things as well. I will be taking some time off from the Internet intermittently all this month. In fact, I will be taking some time off later this week. I just don't have the energy to do long road trips, then come home late at night, and try to be clever here. Sigh. When I first started blogging I was unstoppable, not so much now. Sometimes it makes me sad, I kinda feel defective somehow. I mean Fibromyalgia and Diabetes? It's quite a combo that's for sure, and this is my first year of balancing both. I will find it. It will come. Like with everything else, it takes time. Right?

When you looked at me I should've have run
But I thought it was just for fun
I see I was wrong
And I'm not so strong
I should've known all along that time would tell...

So, in the mean time, I am going to try to do as much photography in October as possible. I am lucky, in I live in a part of California that is close to the best of all possible worlds. The Sierra foothills, and the beautiful Pacific are both just drive away. I love it here for that reason as well as many others. And now adventure awaits. Where will I go next? What will I photograph? Whatever it is, I know I will be anxious to come back here to write an entry and post a photo so I can share it with you. I hope you will enjoy what I find, because sometimes I find the strangest things. Tee Hee.

A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you

Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone

-Carly

NOTE: I will be taking, Thursday and Friday off this week. Details to follow!

Stay Tuned!

-OndineMonet
"Flying Into The Glass"
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Autumn, 2006

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #186:Unexpected Gifts

"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of it's own."

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Weekend Assignment #186: Talk about an unexpected gift that you've received. That gift could be anything big or small - just something that you didn't see coming, and/or from someone you would not have expected to get a gift from. Holiday/Birthday gifts can be included here, but gifts at unusual times are particularly good too.

Extra credit: Have you ever given an unexpected gift?

-John Scalzi (By The Way)

Recently, I got a nice surprise in the mail. My Mother-in-Law sent me some very special photos. All of Alan's school pictures, all 12 grades. It meant so much to me, because I only have a couple little treasures from his childhood. It wasn't my birthday, it wasn't my anniversary, she just sent them along because she loves me, and she understands the hopeless romantic in me. :) Photographs mean a lot to me, especially family photographs, and she understands that as well. She is a neat lady, and I am very lucky to have her in my life.

Extra Credit: I have a tradition. I like to go out in the world, on my birthday, and thank someone who has been especially nice to me at some point during the year. I give them a small thank you present, like a flower, and a little note just to say I appreciate how hard they work. Sometimes I do the same thing on or near New Year's Eve. It's just my way of giving back.

-OndineMonet
"First Kiss"
By Kim Anderson