F*#k three

Welcome to Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta, hosted by Carrie! I thought since I had photos up on Tuesday, and more photos to follow tomorrow, I would add something a little different. It's a short video, and you have to hear what she says at the end. I will warn you, it's not a nice word.

Unfortunately, this video was taken while my little princess sat on the toilet! lol Once the f-word happened my daughter lowered the camera to gawk at my three year old. This leads to a panty shot. It's unfortunate, but still worthy of a laugh! For some reason the audio didn't time right with the video, though. I hope it doesn't take away too much from the moment!

Some great rock ballads from the 80's (Sorry Heather!)

I loved the hair. These guys wore it so well! The jeans. Well, My. Lord. There are really no words for those. Obviously there is more money going into videos these days. Some of them are comical. And, to be honest, I got totally sucked in and not all of these are ballads. Some are just so darned entertaining on some sick level. lol Enjoy. Oh, and good-bye Heather. I know you won't stick around for this one! lol



This first one is White Lion - When the children cry. A WONDERFUL song!


My brother played this song for me in, I believe '85. He was planning to break up with Carol, a girl we all totally adored to go out with Lisa!!! Oh, come on! Big mistake! I hit him with a pillow. More than once.


Every Rose Has Its Thorn.  When I first turned this one on I thought it was

a girl laying on the bed as the camera was scanning ... down.  I was thinking, oh, my. They won't.  They totally won't.  Ahhh!  Oh, good.  It's a guy.  

Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone.  Another FABULOUS '80s ballad.

We MUST have some Bon Jovi. He was totally the '80s king of hair and bum ... I mean, jeans.

And this one ... Just because!!!  lol

Time to share....

This is sort of like a meme, except that no one tagged me and I'm just going to share what I want, when I want.  No pressure.

I'm going to tell you something totally useless about me, and then tell you about something that I learned this week.

Useless "crap":

1.  When I put a new toilet paper roll on, the paper MUST roll out from the top.  Technically, this isn't just when I put one on.  I will change the ones that my family put on wrong (there IS a wrong way to do this, people).  It's also very likely that I will take the time to do it when I'm at your house.  Just so you know.  So if you like it rolling from the bottom, feel free to change it back once I leave.

Stuff to fill your sponge:

1.  Acid, like in pop, (Oh, come on!  What did you think?) makes the enamel on your teeth soft.  No worries.  It will harden again.  HOWEVER, if you brush your teeth before the enamel hardens again, you will brush off a layer of precious enamel from your teeth!  This means if you have binged, and now you're feeling guilty about it and want a fresh, guilt-free mouth, you should wait a little while.  Did you already know that?  Because I just learned it yesterday!

I hope you all enjoyed the tutorial yesterday.

I'm going to have something totally useful and interesting tomorrow!  You just wait and see!

Welcome everyone visiting from Camp Candid Carrie

Okay, so first off welcome to today's field trip! I am so excited!!! If you have come over to check things out here in Canada, but have no interest in photography, I have done a little extra homework for you! If you would prefer to get to know me on a more personal level, this one is good for a laugh, this one will introduce you to my dysfunctional family, and this one will tell you about our sorrows from our personal experience with suicide. I also thought these two were quite witty. lol

If you are here for photography, well then, please, read on. I have told you a little about each one below the picture. It could be about why I took it, how I got the effect, or the camera settings that I used. Enjoy.

Always be on the lookout for a private moment. This was in no way planned. I just happened to be ready for it, and it turned out one of my favorites! The best ones are usually the pictures that are taken AFTER the picture is taken. Does that make sense?


This picture was done using the shutter speed. If you have a point and shoot camera, you should still have a variety of options that are pre-set on your camera. The one you would choose here is the picture of the little running man. If you have a manual camera, chances are you already know how to use it. You select the TV option and from there can increase your shutter speed to approximately 1000 ish so that you can catch someone in action without the movement blur. This depends on your light and whether or not you have a flash. The nice thing with digital is that you can try it a few times and check it to make sure your lighting is good enough. When the shutter speed is really high, it means that it is going to snap that picture so fast that not a whole lot of light is going to get in. If you are not careful, you could miss a really cool sports moment and end up with a black photo. Always try your settings first and adjust accordingly - BEFORE the event starts, but in the same light/general area.


This is one example of my anal-ness. When I take casual pictures, I LOVE pockets. However, in order to keep it from looking like a personal moment between this groom and his hand I make sure the thumb is out. By doing this, we can see that it is his hand resting casually in his pocket instead of us seeing his sleeve and his pants, with nothing in between and no concept of what is REALLY going on. The guys always ask me "What is it with you and thumbs?" because it's always "left hand in your pocket with your thumb out." Well, now you know. The other thing I should point out is that this was my very first wedding. I am now more conscious about avoiding centering their faces and forgetting about everything else. These days I would make sure I brought the whole picture down and gotten his feet in there instead of cutting him off at the ankle. Make the most of the space you have and take note of how much dead space is in the top half of the picture.


Matt & Bradie are going to help me give you an example how not to catch the flash in the lens of the glasses. This is something you have to be very careful with when using your flash. We had Bradie just tip her glasses down slightly. That small adjustment let us see her beautiful eyes instead of bright white glass. This delightful couple is now expecting number 8!! and you can find them at http://themattandbradiebunch.com/ and O'Canadad.com



Tilting the subject is very popular now also. The effect is very nice and gives your picture more of a professional look. When you are doing this, be sure to try it both ways. Usually you will want the subject tilted clockwise, which means turning your camera counter clockwise. Try it both ways and that way you won't be disappointed.





And always leave room for fun! Here I adjusted my aperture because I wanted everything in focus. The aperture setting lets you dictate how much light is going to get in. The higher the aperture, the smaller the window. Just remember opposites. (For a nice headshot, (portrait) you would use a low aperture (4) which brings out the subject by blurring everything in behind. Your point and shoot would be the picture of the ladie's head.) I believe on your point and shoot, it would be the landscape setting? Please correct me if I'm wrong!


There are many different tones you can use for your pictures also. Digital has given us so much room for imagination! I just love it! This one, of course, is black and white.
This one is a lighter-toned sepia. It is supposed to be an old-fashioned sort of look. It's usually not a favorite for me, but I do quite like this one.
And of course, colour. I did enhance this one to bring out the canola.

And you can never get close enough! I love close-ups!

I did have one other, but for some reason that one won't upload. There will be more photos posted on Saturday, as well as a Q&A session. I will try to have it posted then. If you want to see some more photos, please feel free to visit my photography blog at Picture Perfect Photography. You will find that I am more of a traditional photographer.

Thanks so much for stopping by and thank you to Carrie for letting me be a part of Photography Week. I hope you'll come by and visit again soon!

Letter to Stupid, Lazy Lifeguard

Dear Stupid, Lazy Lifeguard:

Perhaps you will remember us. We were there on Friday. You were sitting at the top of a short slide when a cute little blonde in a pink bathing suit (get your head out of the gutter – she’s four!) ran up and plopped down onto her tiny little bum and proceeded down the slide you were supposed to be guarding. The slide you were to stop little people from going down.

You were sitting on your duff watching while my sweet little nutball discovered she could not touch the bottom.

You sat there while her arms flailed and she cried and struggled.

You continued to sit, watching, perhaps the fiasco down in the pool below you, or perhaps some little bikini clad thing walking by, while I ran over and jumped into the pool to save my little girl.

I know. I’m her parent.

I know. I’m responsible for her while I am at your waterslide.

I also know. You didn’t do your job.

I know. You didn’t give a damn.

Does it bother you, Stupid Lazy Lifeguard, that my little nutball was scared to go in the water after that? That my fearless freak of nature didn’t want to go down the waterslides by herself?

Do you care that Liv was up last night having nightmares? That in her tiny little four-year-old-person dream, we didn’t get to her on time?

Just so you know; I hate you, Stupid Lazy Lifeguard. I hate you, and by the way, you’re ugly too.

So there.

Sincerely,

Rhonda

It was an eventful day....

Okay, so. The day started out fairly normal. Loud neighbours. They swear at each other. Loudly. It should be comforting knowing that all is still normal in my life. However, add to that the Indy 500 or 5000 or friggin 7, I don't know, and you have FREAKIN LOUD!!! The race is quite a ways away from my house, but still... their warm up at 7:00 woke me from my slumber. It's just wrong. And a little ignorant.

We start by going to Home Depot for Leon. We are shingling our roof and I was sent out for stuff. Men who send women out for house stuff and car parts should be shot. Seriously. I want to send him out to face the tampon isle all by himself just for payback. (Let's watch his face turn red when the sales girl asks HIM for the diameter!)

After that I take my two girls for a drive. I wanted to see if our local waterslides were open, but I didn't want to tell them where we were going, just in case. I haven't been there myself since I was a kid. Turns out it was $70 for a family of four. (And the same price for the three of us.) The kids are freaking out because they were so delighted and totally excited when they saw the waterslides, and now their mother wanted to pull the water slides from their little grasp. I don't do this often people, but I caved. I felt sick about it, but in we went anyway.

Livvy (see Friday's picture) runs to the first slide, and we're both thinking it was a kid slide. Wrong. I'm walking toward the pool as she is flying down this little slide because I'm just not sure where the bottom is and I wanted to be ready. (Keep in mind I'm still about 30+ feet away!) Hmmm, she can't touch. The loser at the top of the slide didn't stop her from going down. He's sitting at the top of the slide watching as she gasps for breath, arms flailing. He sits. Have I called him a loser yet? I jumped in and saved the little nutball myself. That set the stage for the afternoon. She is now terrified and doesn't want to go on anything. Hmmmm, $70 worth of wading pool.

Now a lifeguard finds me in the above mentioned wading pool with Liv and has my other daughter in tow. Cassie has a huge hunk of wood jammed underneath her thumb nail almost to her cuticle that can't be reached with tweezers. Great. They tell me to head down the road to the Medi-centre. Not gonna happen. They told me they would give me a family pass that we can use another day if we choose to leave.

They didn't need to tell me twice. We were so outa' there! Two screaming kids in tow (actually one was literally under my arm) and off we went. With TWO free family passes. I'm just that good! lol

We spent an hour and a half at my old clinic (it's just so handy!) and the doctor managed to wiggle the enchanted forest out from her nail. My fabulous ex-co-workers were kind enough to babysit Liv so I could go in with Cassie. We came out to see her pretty much covered in stickers and candy. Jane had run to the store to grab popsicles for the girls and a slush for me (See the about me section). I totally love those gals. They are THE ABSOLUTE BEST!

Then back to Home Depot again to rent the nail gun, compressor, get nails, vents etc that I priced out earlier. Home, unload, shower, throw my hair back and run off to my soccer game. We won 3-1!!! Woohooo! Then home to help shingle. It's now almost one in the morning.

I'm tired folks. I'm REALLY tired!

And yet I'm so dedicated to y'all that I have taken the time to tell you about my day. Don't I just amaze and inspire you to no end? lol

It's Friday, Folks!! Welcome!

I so love this picture! This is Olivia. She's my little nutball! What more can a person say, really? This is actually what her hair looked like for the first two years of her life. Seriously. People would say to me "Can you not gel that down?" I totally loved it! This, of course, is a static problem, not her natural do.

Thanks Carrie for all your hard work in directing people to all of our sites! You're awesome!

Day four .... Ready?

Okay, so to be honest, I have nothing. I have searched through other blogs both randomly and other's favourites. I. Am. Blank. Perhaps I went about this wrong and set myself up for failure? Argh! But, my creative juices have dried up. Completely. I'm going to leave a few runner's up, just because I can't think of anything else. Besides I'm working on a HUGE blog-project for Monday that I'm really excited about! So, that is where my energy must go.

So, the runners up are ....

1. Candid Carrie - For her documentary. Also for her fabulous direction and support on our documentaries every Friday! Kudos!

2. Mama's Losin It - For her creativity. And because she's just plain crazy. Gotta' love that! It was her list of questions for PB that totally won this for her! She's certifiable. Yup.

3. Snowbirds Snowpatrol - Sarah is our winter destination goddess! She is brand new to blogging, so stop by and say hello, would you?

4. Keeping up with yesterday - Because she makes me think. Evi's incredibly creative. What she needs to do is scan in some of her scrapbooking pages for everyone to see. Not only are the pages well done, but her viewpoint when she's snapping her pictures is very unique! Also, it has been many "yesterdays" since she has blogged and she has many "yesterdays" to catch us up on. If you would stop by and encourage her to come back to us here on blogger, that would be great!

5. Can You Be A Part Of My Life - Lauren wins for her newcasts. She tells it like it is, has the knowledge to tell it and shares how she feels about it! I totally love that!

So, make sure you come back tomorrow for Foto Friday and stop in Monday too!

Here We Go Again Folks...

Okay, so for today, I was torn between two wonderful bloggers. I decided on Angela from The Painted House. WOW! Has this family been through the wringer! Take a look!. So on top of bills from student loans, Clayton gets cancer (Do you "get" cancer? It sounds like a privilege worded like that, doesn't it?), and then her mom has a heart attack. All the while there are kids, laundry, house and regular bills to be tended. I think she is my hero. (I was going to say "heroine" but it just doesn't sound right. Druggies took away a woman's right to be a "Heroine". Jerks.)

All of this, though, I discovered after I totally fell in love with her new kitchen! She is actually an artist, which is how she won the "Artsy Fartsy" award I have the honour of bestowing upon fellow bloggers. Be sure to look through at the different rooms she has designed! She is FABULOUS!

She was recently featured on The Secret Is In The Sauce. This is how I ended up coming across her blog myself.

Now Angela, like Heather and Melissa before her, has the five awards to hand out, if she chooses to do so.

Congratulations Angela!

Announcing ... for Best Musical!

Melissa Lee, come on over and accept your award! You are winning the award for the art of song! I haven't actually heard you sing, but I do honestly believe in my heart of hearts that you can sing. Lordy, girl, can you sing!!

I feel you are one of those people who can have you weeping through a ballad one minute and jumping up and down in the aisles the next. You would seriously FEEL the music and make ME feel it too! I have always loved music myself, but, alas, no one wants to sign me for a recording contract. In fact, while my kids insist I just must try out for the next Canadian Idol, I know they jest, but it's because they love me.

Melissa, by the way, is expecting. She is expecting coupons, and chicken, and maybe some Julio's. She is also expecting. Expecting! Isn't that exciting?? When you stop on over there (I know initially you came from there, anyway, but just humour me here, okay?) let her know that you are thinking of her and praying for her, and if you so choose, that you are sending something to her. Just pray for the magazine. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well then read this.

If you need a good laugh, I highly recommend you check out her jaunt through the funhouse. That is the post that got me hooked ... and almost fired. I absolutely could not hold back my laughter!

Now, Melissa, the award is in your hands. If you so choose you may pass it on to five other deserving recipients. Stop by and direct Melissa to your very best musings, photos, music, art, whatever. Oh, and DEFINITELY scrapbooks. She just LOVES scrapbooks! lol

To recap - Heather won yesterday for best mini-series!