estacey
(taken from flickr, verbatim, because i'm lazy)
i think it's the 1st pic i've taken with my camera (on manual, even) that basically was not changed whatsoever when i hit "i'm feeling lucky" on picasa. perfectly exposed! or, uh.. does that mean something else?
i was killin' time while chris was at mass, by the way. still figuring out the camera.
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i'm awake too late!
chris was out late last night, so he was agreeable to hanging out in bed for half the day... big change, since he's usually out of bed long before i even wake up the FIRST time. so anyway, we were lazy today.. ate-breakfast-at-3pm lazy. we watched star wars tonight.. he fell asleep early.. i'm still awake..
but anyway, sleepy. we may take the boat out tomorrow, maybe i can get some more pictures then. i've been reading up a lot, want to put some things into practice!
oh! ha! my "new" phone won't turn on.. since wednesday. i'm cursed. i figured out how to unlock my old nokia from cingular.. but it turns out this model isn't compatible with metropcs since they don't do SIM card phones. bummer, right? so now i have to buy ANOTHER phone. !!!! cursed, i tell ya!
Then I went to the Sun-Sentinel. Then I switched back to the Onion. All in a matter of, like, half a second. So quickly I had basically forgotten I opened the Onion. I tend to do this - I log on and open a few sites all at once, because I'm too impatient to wait for anything to load.
So anyway, I sat there staring at this story:
Over-Optimistic NFL Doctor Says Injured Bills Player Kevin Everett Will Fly Out Of Hospital
12:01AM ET HOUSTON
Less than a month after Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett suffered a life-threatening dislocation and fracture of his cervical spine that was predicted to... more
Totally thinking I was looking at the Sun-Sentinel. I'm like, "Huh? Fly? They're using a figure of speech in a headline? Wha?" Then I'm looking at the picture. "WHA?"
THEN I remembered that I had loaded the Onion.... Okay, I guess that makes more sense. :D ¶ 11:44 AM 0 comments
things get all messed up when you have to be up while it's still dark.
which i did today, for work.
i was back home by early afternoon. napped. woke up when chris got home at 6. by 9:30, it felt like it was the middle of the night. here it is at 11 and i feel like i should've been asleep for hours by now...
not much of interest going on over here. i've been tired beyond belief (it always happens around this time of the month)...
last night, in anticipation of this work thing, i went and stayed at alli's in south beach last night. we went to this place named pasha's, which was good.. so that was nice. i, of course, did not get enough sleep, but it all worked out.
uhh, what else? oh, it's been raining here, non-stop. for days and days, seriously. it's ridiculous. the dogs, i feel so bad for them.. they're used to running around all day, but because of this they stay in their respite crate in the master bath all day so they don't get wet. as for the cats, because of this, oreo has finally gotten to stay inside during the day. i actually don't think she's been outside in days at this point. the other cats have the garage to stay warm and dry in, but since she's the backyard cat...
i've been trying to bring elliot in more and more. the rain is good for that, since i don't have to chase him through the bushes; he can usually be found relaxing on the mattress in the garage if it is actively raining outside.
oreo is so darn mean to the other two cats, though. tonight she got after kitten for daring to use the litterbox. it caused a catfight i could hear from the shower, in the next room, through a door. and my lord is elliot scared of the dogs. it all adds up to an environment that i'm sure is scary for elliot... but i'm trying to get them all to be harmonious.. oreo and the dogs at this point get along very well, so i have high hopes for the other cats and the dogs.
blah blah blah, time to go to sleep. almost the weekend again!
i went to key largo today with the hoes and their friends, two retired plastic surgeons who spend most of their days underwater with their matching D200s, trying to get nice pictures.
it was nice! the highlight? a goliath grouper on the bentwood wreck.
i'd never seen one before. this fishy was huuuuuge. huge! according to the internets, they grow up to 680 lbs and can be seven feet long. !!! i have noo idea how big this one was, but BIG. very cool. he swam away from us, then went and hid under a ledge, and i spotted him again and pointed him out to the photographer dude. he got scared off again, went into the wreck. at which point we officially lost him. but, oh, it was neat. :)
viz was nice, esp. at the second site.
really nice , and now - oh, i'm tired.
so work has this volunteer program. a one-month, unpaid but expenses-paid-for (minus airfare & spending money) volunteer program. they started it six months ago, but it was never something i thought i could do, because of school and bills and the animals and all that. i really never gave it a second thought, but it was always an "it's too bad i can't do that" sort of thing, because i'd love to.
so anyway, i had to print out the FAQ on the program for something the other day, and happened to have it in my planner last night during class. after my test, i started looking at it. the one program is in guatemala. you stay with a guatemalan family, and for your volunteering, you teach little children! you help them with their reading, math, science, etc. you give them english lessons. it's a full day, 8 - 4. you also help with projects in the community.
you are living in a town on lake atitlan (pictured above).
i got to thinking about it, and by the time everyone else was done with their tests, my heart was beating fast and i was all excited because i realize i COULD do it. assuming chris is willing to act as single daddy to all the pets (he is, later confirmed) and i could save up $$$ in advance to pay for my airfare and my bills for the month, etc., it is totally doable.
i'd miss chris and all the animals, but at the same time, it's just four weeks. i would know that i should just enjoy my time there because i would soon be going home. that was a sticking point because, um, i have hardly been apart from chris for more than a night or two since i've met him, and i kinda like it that way. but yeah, it would be worth it. i tried telling chris he could come visit me, but he doesn't seem very keen on the idea.
as for school, i would have to have have some really flexible teachers who are willing to let me do my first two weeks of class assignments in advance (for this good cause, maybe they would be?), or take the summer term off.. but honestly, i think for a monthlong experience like this, it would be worth it.
i could really help these kids.. not only hands-on, but the money my work would pay for me to participate goes towards their school and community. in addition, i would get to learn about the foundations my work has that are working in the community where i would be stationed. and getting to live for a whole month in a totally different place? speaking spanish all the time? ahh, i'd love it.
i think the application progress starts soon.. they choose something like eight for our state to participate. man oh man, i hope i get to go! it's still a long shot at this point, but very much a hopeful one.
today i have learned that i should never, ever work in a bakery.
i ate a banana on the way to the bakery (to take pictures). i intended to leave around lunchtime, so i'd stop at the store next door to pick up something healthy. well, i never left to eat so instead i just ate the things the folks at the bakery offered me.
so what did i eat today? 1 blueberry muffin, 1 cinnamon bun, and then for lunch? a cupcake. a chocolated-frosted, absolutely-delicious yum-yummy cupcake. but now i feel absolutely god-awful. i stopped off to get some tofu salad to try to balance it all out, but it didn't seem to help.
blech.
they told me i could take home whatever i wanted. i chose this key lime cake, decorated with palm trees. but it was out all day, and then it went outside in the hot sun with me... this is what it looked like by the drive home. cake is the absolute last thing i want to eat right now anyway, but i decided to salvage it by re-frosting it and sticking it in the fridge. it's a $30 cake, after all!
okay, so this dude t pain... he does the "buy you a draaaank song"
you don't know it? go listen.
http://search.music.yahoo.com/search/?m=all&p=t+pain
also, chris's version of "cute with chris" is funny. it's actually the FIRST place i heard the song. now i'm always sayin' it: i'm-a-gunna-buy-you. a draaaaaaaaaaaaank.
also, he sings the bartender song that i'm always singing. "she made us drinks - to drink! we drunk 'em - got drunk!"
tonight i heard this song "apple bottom jeans" again and had to download it. and it's t pain again! again with the t pain!
certainly not for everyone (ex. chris), but it's the type of stuff that'll get your booty movin' for sure....
:)
we took chris's friend from out of town, dawn, and six of her friends out last night.. as usual, i suggested bahia cabana. hehe. the place has a lot of things going for it, namely that it is OUTSIDE, has MUSIC, and MORE THAN ONE thing on the menu that i like. also, we can BOAT THERE. :)
anyway, that makes NINE OF US on the boat. and no one had to stand! i was impressed! :)
i had THREE mojitos! three! i was gone, wheeeeee! such a lightweight. :) i was acting as bartender at the concert the other night, and finishing off luis's beers when i couldn't finish pouring the whole thing in the cup. literally, it was like two swigs, and i could FEEL IT. is that sad or what? so, yeah, three mojitos? chris kept warning me i would regret it today, but i was actually fine. no headache or nothing.
although i did regret something - i talked some poor girl's head off the ENTIRE WAY BACK. i get kinda chatty when i have been drinking. which is why chris told me to sit down, claiming that the boat's weight was off-balance. today he admitted that was, "well, partially true." :D
oh! chris is home! and i have a test! and photography to do! must go! :)
not many! i had my camera confiscated, after all! that was fun!
no time to write right now!
i found this funny.
also: NEEDLES WAS HERE FOR OZZFEST 2006.
"needles" eh? nice!
I found this chick on Flickr last night. Her pics are SO AWESOME.
She does the engagement / wedding picture thing, only.. Oh my gosh, they’re so not the typical cliché things you usually see. Seriously, go check them out. Her website showcases them even awesomer. http://www.anneruthmann.com/ If I ever get married, would it be too going too far to get her flown out from Terre Haute, Indiana to come take the pictures?
I did note she uses a Canon. Oh, goddammit. Repeat, Stacey, repeat: it’s the photographer, not the camera. Photographer, not the camera.
Ken Rockwell of KenRockwell.com (excellent resource for all things camera/photography, by the way; I keep meaning to make a donation) says you can get the same results from a $500 camera as you can from a $5,000 camera, but why is it that all the pros are using cameras that cost $3-5,000 cameras, then? Her camera, for example, costs around $3,000. HMMMM, Ken Rockwell, WHY IS THAT?
Anyway. I gotta go. Alli’s birthday concert is tonight – Dave Matthews Band. I dunno their stuff and I don’t particularly like it, an opinion I’ve learned to keep to myself over the past few days (everyone is so excited for me for getting to see them that I feel like an ass for saying I don’t really like ‘em), but eh.. She’s 30 this weekend. Who knows how many good years she has left with us? ;)
i just love these pictures.
it took me a minute to realize that the little street cat was little kin's humble beginnings.. what a difference a loving home will make, right?
this dude junku has a blog, but sadly it's in japanese so i can't read the story. i'm assuming came across kin and thought it was far too nice a cat to be living on the street, and thought, "hey, we only have three other cats at home, of COURSE we have room for another!" and the rest is history, as they say. :)
ahh, pictures... i wish chris would come back in here so i could show him these!
i learned to set my white balance using a grey card, and that makes a world of difference.
i learned that my camera's pictures look best when set +.03 or +.07, unless they are closeups. since you can't bracket for BOTH of these, i set my camera to default to +.03, and then bracketed for +.03, so i wind up with one of +.03 and one of +.06 (although the photo info always says +.07, so i don't understand that!). if i have to do closeups, i guess i'll have to set the default back to normal exposure.and keep up the bracketed exposures, because i like it.
as for what i shoot in, after tearing my hair out with manual for a while, i've decided to LET IT GO. instead, i see what the camera thinks. then i put it into aperature priority mode and shoot. i think it's a happy medium.
anyway, this is the result of playing with the lighting and the above-mentioned white balance and exposures. obviously, my focus was not on composition nor on choosing a subject which would not REFLECT EVERY DAMN LIGHT IN THE ROOM ON ITS SURFACE, but hey, whatcha gonna do?
i found out today i need a cream background to shoot the cakes on. the camera store only had green. ha ha ha! so i get to figure out now if i can use something from the craft store or something.. i have the perfect seamless background for something smaller (scrap large-format printer paper from work.. huge, huge pieces of it, but nothing for a job this big) but i'm kinda stumped.
ok, i'm tired. :)
Friday night is the concert for Alli's birthday.
Sunday afternoon is the late lunch for Alli's birthday.
This weekend, I really have to figure out how to solve the noise problem with my camera, and figure out how to best light a cake photo shoot that I suggested we do on Monday. (They wanted to do it Friday, but I really need some more time! I need more time!)
I have a test Tuesday for my Tuesday night class. I have three math quizzes to take by Saturday, and a quiz to take for my other class by Sunday (I think?). Plus, you know, I have to do the weekend stuff like eat French toast and go diving with Chris and all that. Did I mention I have not been exercising at all lately and really would like to be? Oy vey.
Work has been craaaazy. I was actually making to-do lists for work tomorrow during class tonight. There's just too much to remember. Luckily, it should all be over by the end of the month and we can go back to having time to take deep breaths.
Oh yeah, and I have to move? Ha!
Okay. Time to go eat dinner now.
P.S. Do I have to mention 9/11? Today was a bummer. I had to avoid the radio stations, much like I avoid the news stories about how sonar is affecting the whales. I was in a hurry this morning -- as usual -- and they did a moment of silence at 8:46 and I didn't have time to get all choked up, dammit, yet there I was, stopped dead in my tracks. Stupid terrorists.
I like Malingering's picture, Fire Station 18:
¶ 7:42 PM 0 comments
"Where you be?" I asked.
"Home," he said. "Lifting weights. Where are you?"
"On my way home. From the camera shop."
"That's a big surprise. Like me coming home from the boat store." Hehe.
Anyway, I bought a lighting kit. I went back and forth on it, but I talked to the store dudes for a little while about it and thought, over the next few years, they definitely are going to come in handy here and there. I've been thinking a lot about lights over the past few weeks. But it does mean I dipped into my lens fund to buy them and that means I won't be getting my lens until next month. But hey. That's okay.
I made Chris stand between the softbox and the umbrella to see how much light they gave off in such a dim room. Not bad.
Now I have another thing to learn a whole lot about: lighting.
Will it ever end? ¶ 11:21 PM 0 comments
so so so happy!, originally uploaded by estacey.
what a funny picture, right?
this was the smallest of our three houseguests for the weekend. :)
having people for the weekend is fun sometimes (i add the qualifier "sometimes" because sometimes guests feel like work and sometimes they don't - luckily, our guests this weekend were of the latter sort and it was just a -nice- weekend), especially when they have little people with them. i slept most of saturday, which is unfortunate because apparently they played in the pool. i missed out. dammit.
this is the baby and her mama, on our way to bahia cabana last night for dinner.
it is ruthanne's second time on a boat, and she is obviously totally over the whole boating experience thing. we were boring her, people.
she did seem impressed by the menus at bahia cabana, however.
i had me a delicious meal and two mojitos for dinner, and we had a lovely ride back here... then we all watched ruthanne get a bath in the sink.
then i had to take a math test. tipsy on two mojitos. i got an 80, so i won't complain. no help from chris, even! well, except on one problem.. :)
okay, i'm tired. off to bed!
We moored here and took the opportunity to get our bearings, then geared up and headed down for a looooovely dive. I don't think I really knew what to expect.. but it was just so damn clear, from the minute we put our faces in the water. I loved it. I was very, very happy. It's been a week now, so if you asked me exactly what we saw exactly, it's a struggle. The usual, but lots of 'em. Little fish. Lots of the little blue ones. I saw a tiny baby sharpnose pufferfish, and it was adorable. We saw a big, big nurse shark. A big ray. So, so many fish.
After the dive, I went to take my fins off and had, for a second, a fear-of-heights moment. That's how clear the water is there... I loved it. I didn't want to get out of the water. I stayed in the water for a good 10 minutes just floating and staring at the fish below.
Chris drove the boat around while I sat up front and marveled at how lovely this place was. Actively.
Kickin' my legs over the side, I saw fishies swimmin' by under my feet. I had to yell back to Chris every once in a while about how much I loved it there.
We saw this place, the Sapona, and decided to come back to snorkel/dive around it. Sadly, we didn't get back before dark and the next day it was too stormy around the area to dive. Next time!
We had to go back to port.. gas up, power up, get more air for our tanks, etc. This meant more showers! Woo!
While Chris gassed up, I used the opportunity to feed goldfish to the seagulls and snap pictures. I got a few I liked.
I hung out in the marina pool while Chris powered up and chatted with some ladies from Hobe Sound, then walked down to the other resort for some ice.
Chris and I got back in the water and realized that it would be too late for another dive or to go snorkeling at that wreck so figured we would just have a sunset dinner on the boat and turn in early for an early start to our next day.
And that we did.
However, I did jump back in the water for a little bit of reef-watching until our light ran out. Some barracudas gave me a scare in the distance, until I realized what they were.
Then it was burritos by Craftsman-hat-light on the boat while moored up at Turtle Rocks. It was awesome. All the stars were out. It was a perfect, beautiful night. We stayed up for a long time on the boat, just sitting there, rocking. After we finally went to bed, I made the mistake of getting back up and then ended up hanging off the side of the boat, watching all the little phosphorescent critters in the water, and the little glow-in-the-dark fish that were hunting them.
I ended up going to bed at, oh, midnight..
And at 3 a.m., we woke up with the boat rocking. The water had started getting rough. The rest of the night was bad for sleeping.. I would wake up and it would take a half-hour to get back to sleep. I could only sleep on my back since the water was so rough. I was having all sorts of crazy dreams. The water was sloshing so much. We were pounding away. At 7 a.m., I woke up and face the reality of the day. Chris was already awake. We hoped together that it was a night thing, that the water would calm back down. We then realized we had a storm heading our way, so we had to abandon our plans to dive the Sapona.
We did end up getting to dive, thankfully, which was a nice break in the choppy water.
Again, the viz was great. Lots of fishies! Lots of very confident barracuda! I was happy and didn't want to come back up to that damn choppy water!
But the rest of the day was just waves and more waves. I didn't manage to get anything down aside from an apple... Hardly was able to drink anything... Chris and I were both feeling pretty damn green. I never puked, but was very, very close. Very close.
And the gulf stream was very rough. Blech. But once we got back into Florida waters, all was calm.. We got checked out at immigration right there on the intracoastal and back to the house at 3 p.m.
Relieved, see?
I left for class at 5 with a splitting headache, getting to class at 6 and feeling like the classroom was rocking. Worse, I felt like the bedroom was rocking at 11 p.m.
Awesome, awesome trip.. but HELLUVA last day. Starting it out with no food and then not being able to eat, and not really being able to drink.. and being on choppy water for 12 hours... and then not really getting much sleep.. well, altogether, it added up to a REALLY EXHAUSTING DAY. Chris and I both took DAYS to recover from that.
Regardless, it was worth it. I totally understand now why everyone zips over to the Bahamas for the weekend. I can't wait to go back - especially now that we've learned a few lessons on how to have a successful trip to the Bahamas! ¶ 10:43 PM 1 comments
I was still feeling rough while getting ready Sunday morning. The fact that I stayed up until 2 getting ready did not help matters, of course. We were supposed to get up at 5-something, leave at 6-something. Luckily, while Chris rose with the sun (as usual), he let me sleep in because he is a very, very kind soul. I slept until 7:30.
So anyway, I was still miserable on Sunday. Trying to gather my things while stifling a sneeze, squinting. I was very disappointed -- still wanting to go, but disappointed I would feel so icky on my trip.
Last ditch, I took some Dayquil and did some nasal sprays right before we left. Chris realized the ice had all melted and had to run over to the store to get some more. I collapsed on the couch and realized how much I wanted to just stay there, on the couch, in the air conditionining. It was a very scary realization.
But a half-hour or so into the boat ride, I felt everything start to get clear. Wow, I thought, that Afrin must be some good stuff. I made a mental note to repeat the Dayquil & Afrin routine later.
I never had to do anything else the rest of the trip and I felt fine. Amazing, right?
So anyway, we were warned that the gulf stream can be all scary and rough. We hit it on a good day and only knew we were in it because of the change in the color of the water. It was freaking amazing. Seriously.
So it was a really nice, smooth ride. I watched an episode of Law & Order and snapped lots of pictures and, next thing I knew, Bimini was in sight!
Of course, neither Chris nor I knew what to do next. We motored around hoping to see something that would give us a clue. We ended up by a trawling boat, on which the fellas shouted over that we needed to go find the pink building, which was customs. Okay, we said, and were on our merry way.
This was the channel we were going through.
It was gorgeous.
There were lots of boats around. Everyone, you could tell, was from Florida. No one was obeying the "NO WAKE ZONE" signs. That was annoying.
Right next to the channel was this:
I wonder how many drunken boaters run into that.
Well, we ended up at the marina for a resort. A nice dude that worked for them hopped on our boat and said he'd show us where customs was. When we pulled up to the building, Chris and I both exclaimed, "This is the PINK BUILDING we were looking for?!"
Yeah.
Later on, we saw the building from the street and then it made a little more sense.
It used to be pink.
I think the falling-down Customs sign is definitely a nice touch, don't you?
We had some paperwork to fill out, but eventually they told us we could stay and they gave me a nice stamp for my passport.
We anchored out in the channel so we could clean ourselves up... Ahh, showers!
Then we went "into town." We did a very quick tour, but that's really all you need of Bimini. We decided on the Red Lion Pub to eat. They serve turtle, which they bill as tasting "like veal" (double bonus!). I had to eat the shrimp off of Chris's seafood sampler and some corn on the cob. Ha. When we got back to the boat, I made myself a fluffernutter.
We had planned on going back out onto the water to sleep, but Chris's friend in the big boat had left, so we decided to sleep back at the marina. For which we never paid... So we officially were squatting. There were all these empty spots, and who knows where the dockmaster was.. and we weren't getting electricity or water or anything anyhow. Rationalize, rationalize.
It was actually a pretty good situation. I had a real, flushing toilet to use in the morning, with a place to wash my hands, etc. They even had a nice restaurant we apparently should've eaten at... This is where we had to get our air fills, this is where the locals told me I had to come for ice, etc. It's the cornerstone of the community, this place.
Also, they had showers.
Considering we got all this for free, I was willing to forgive them for the Jimmy Buffett. I mean, I like Jimmy as much as the next chick, but can we get any more cliche for something to play at a waterfront resort? They did play Sublime at one point, but mostly it was Jimmy Buffett and stuff that sounded very much like him. I'm sure the staff loves the music. During the day, all the guests were gone and it was just the almost just the staff around, cleaning and hanging out and shooting pool and stuff, but STILL it was the Eagles and stuff on the radio. What a shame -- I much preferred the stuff I heard coming out cars going by on the street.
OK, now, yeah - wow - I need some sleep. More manana! ¶ 10:26 PM 0 comments
so i turn my phone on yesterday and it's EMPTY. just empty!
i can add contacts, but it won't save even the last number i dialed...
i realize i gotta get a new phone. i looked around on craigslist and found the perfect one - a nokia with excellent battery life and a camera to boot! the girl stopped by my office today, so now i have a phone that holds numbers again! yay!
okay, anyway, but this is the weird part - as i was telling chris about my empty-phone woes yesterday, he told me his phone went to shit too. it started shutting off by itself and acting all wacko. he ordered a new phone yesterday, too.
my theory?
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE STRIKES AGAIN! so next time we go to the bahamas? we leave the phones behind!
So while we were en route to Bimini, I realized I had forgotten all but one day’s worth of Topamax.
I was pretty mad at myself, but then relaxed and said, “It’s okay – maybe they have a Walgreens there and I can just get a refill.”
Chris said, “Stace, you have no clue.”
He had the same reaction when his duct tape wouldn’t stick to anything and I tried to cheer him up by saying once we went “into town” we could buy some better stuff. Again, “Stacey, it’s not like that here.”
This picture is pretty much Bimini’s main road. Note the absolute and total lack of Walgreens.
i was messing around with my f-stop to make the land look out of focus. it worked. :)
this camera was such a good gift! anything chris needed to do that took lots of time? paperwork, reading his boating book, adjusting stuff, etc.? i just snapped pictures. LOVE THE CAMERA. :)
we made it! awesome time! and i felt FINE! quite amazing, actually! chris and i had a really, really nice time. :) today the water was a bit rough - we were "camping" at a dive site so had a pretty rude awakening at, oh, 3 a.m... it has since been a really long day. but it was just a great time, and adventure all-around. i'm so glad we went. glad, again, that i have this wonderful boy to be experiencing things with. :)
PICTURES: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jisou/sets/72157601861119890/
quick upload.. i gotta go through and delete the similar pics (obviously i didn't upload everything i took, but i realize there are four very similar pics uploaded, etc.).
anyway, back to the real world; have to be at class in an hour. we just got home at 3! d'oh!
go look at the pics. lots are just focusing on how damn pretty the water was because, well.. it WAS. wow. :)
- Dayquil, Nyquil
- Box of Kleenex
- Likely-to-be-unused divegear (I wanted to bring the divegear, but I wanted to use it, dammit)
But hey, at least I'm still going.
We didn't leave today. Obviously.
Last night, I was still hellbent on going, despite feeling like total and utter crap. They call it bull-headed.
I walked over to Winn-Dixie to fullfill my part of the "Stacey prepares the food & bedding, Chris prepares everything else" bargain for this trip. I definitely got the easy part of that. Anyway, so I walk over there to buy fruit, which is the only thing I had left to get. It was SO HOT in there. Finally, I had to ask, "Is it just because I'm sick, or is it actually hot?" It turns out their a/c was broken. Winn-Dixie strikes again! So anyway, I get home and set the bag of stuff on the kitchen counter and then go sit at the table and start crying. And yes, I still thought I was going to the Bahamas in less than 12 hours, in that condition.
A bit earlier last night, Chris realized the windlass (for the anchor, don't ask me why they call it that) wasn't working late last night and mentioned leaving Sunday instead. A hopeful lightbulb went off over my head. But, of course, Chris was being just as stubborn about leaving today as I was being stubborn about going period. I think it eventually sunk in how miserable I was feeling and we decided to call the trip off for Saturday, and try again for Sunday.
As for today, I'm definitely still sick, but it's much better than yesterday.
I spent most of the day in bed. Kitten liked this, because this meant she got to keep me company, by hanging out up in her new favorite spot, the windowsill over the bed. It's both very private, plus unlike under the bed, she's never had her ass kicked by Oreo on the windowsill. Plus, she can see birds and everything else from up there. It's very narrow, but she doesn't seem to mind that, even when she falls off once in a while. ("I meant to do that, duh.")
I think this is horribly cute, especially when her little feet get all pushed up against the curtains.
The bonus is that then Sebastian will come in and not realize she's there and, at some point, she'll wake up or wake up and jump down and all hell will break loose. Today, he was napping with me and she was on the windowsill when she fell down. Sebastian was dead asleep, but JUMPED OUT OF BED. Panic all around, from both species. Lordy. Hopefully he'll eventually come to remember that sometimes there is a furry little creature up hiding behind the curtains. He even gets confused just when she stands up and stretches. Like, "OMG, what's that?" I'm like, hello, remember the kitties? We have three! You see them every day! Every day in the house, even!
Anyway, I did eventually get up to shower, which was a move in the right direction, and then I did get out of bed to go do my usual triangle-about-town to the camera shop and bookstore. Usually Whole Foods is a stop along that route, but today I skipped it.
I did get little comments here and there from shop clerks like, "Oh, I'll hurry dear, you look so tired," but I did make it all the way home without crying or taking my pants off in the car because I was so hot.
The cabin-fever bookstore trip is always the sign that things are looking up. :)
What did I get there? An in-depth D70 manual, as I talked to a professional photog the other day who told me to LEARN MY MANUAL, but sadly I lost my manual and can only find the Spanish version. I tried reading that, but uh... yeah, I'd rather have it in English.
Also, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Season Two. No more impulse buys, dammit, because I could have saved $20 plus tax by buying it off of Amazon! But I had re-watched the entirety of season one over the past week in bed (thanks again, Byron! your christmas gift from YEARS AGO is still giving!!!), so what am I to do? Criminal Intent is definitely my favorite of all the Law & Orders. Favorite show EVER. That Bobby is so good. So smart and so thoughtful! We all know how I feel about him. :)
Aww, and look at how he's looking at me. (I'm normal, right?)
So anyway, we leave for the Bahamas manana, with me and my kleenex in tow. Hopefully we will find someone to cross the Gulfstream with, an issue only thanks to my shitty timing on getting sick. I have big hopes that I will feel ever better tomorrow, and even better on Monday, etc. We'll be coming home Tuesday, and then I have class Tuesday night.
Wish us luck!
