landing back on the couch!

for some reason, this was a really fun game for the big kids this morning. the game was the kids standing in front of the couch holding hands and screaming the count of three... and on three throwing themselves backwards onto the couch. kendal insisted on joining in - holly wanted to too but she wasn't tall enough for the couch (plus there just wasn't enough room for THAT many kids on one couch no matter how long it is!)

all because two people fell in love

hopefully i'm not spoiling melissa's fun by sharing her OWN photos, but i had so much fun taking these (and i love them so much), i just can't wait to share them myself.  (she did say it was ok to share them. but, if you see these again - well, act surprised!)

these are all right in their back yard at one huge oak tree.  well, i guess it is an oak tree.  i didn't really notice any acorns or leaves... 

 

of coarse, ALL the fairels were here this thanksgiving!

this one is behind their house at "the rock" club house, as grace told me.  she also told me that there was a dead squirrel on it (which i never saw when i was de-constructing the clubhouse which consisted of about 15 logs straddling the two big rocks with a plastic sheet over them).

this one is my favorite (set) of them all.

they all got a great work out when we (i mean they) were trying to jump at the same time.  we had a bunch turn out good though!

blogwagon

i really think i fell off the blogwagon and it left me in the dust.  not only do i never have time anymore to blog, the ideas i have to blog about leave me about as fast as they come to me.  my brain is occupied with too many things these days.

right now, we are on vacation for thanksgiving in missouri.  why would anyone go to missouri on vacation?  because family is there. that is the ONLY reason. where we are in missouri is so far removed from everything it literally takes over an hour to get to the closest target.  and you know, in NC - there is a target in nearly every town.  some even have 12 (like raleigh).

we're having a great time, enjoying the remoteness of things.  thankfully post has everything that one could need. and, about an hour and 15 minutes away is an outlet mall that has a coldwater creek outlet store and melissa drove me out there to shop.  i got 4 sweater/shirts and a necklace for a very reasonable price off of the normal store prices.  i pretty much picked out 6 shirts and got 4 that i wanted.  i'll probably kick myself for not getting one of them but oh well.  it was one that i wanted really bad in the store but didn't get when it was there.  the ones i DID get i had never seen in the store.  the necklace i got is large beads of turquoise and retails for $80.  i paid $20.

ANYWAY, the kids are all getting along great.  miranda and JP are here too and it is totally enhancing the experience.  holly and kendal both love miranda and she is like "katelyn" for the week. 

my caffeine detox is going well.  i had to take a excedrin yesterday (with a little bit of coke) because the crazy front we had coming through but other than that, i've had nothing.

guess that is all my update. 

my wish list, reposted (for nathaniel)

ok, nathaniel, this is from may's blog post!
this list is not in order.

1.  http://www.bokehmasterskit.com/

2.  i really want this fisheye lens - but i suppose in the spirit of saving money, these filters will be ok (though they are hardly a replacement).

3. 85mm lens like this one with an f/1.8.  i would prefer one with 1.4, but we're talking like almost TRIPLE the price for that tiny bit of [aperture] ratio. so, um, i guess if someone would say "hey, spend $1400 for me", i'd take this one.

4. yea, so this one is for when i make it "big."  i suppose i can always dream.  i know i have lenses that already cover this "zoom" range, but what makes this one different, again, is the f/2.8.  my lenses are f/3.5-5.6 which means i need more light.

5. an external flash and a softbox diffuser (that one would be specific to the type of flash i actually got...)

6.  a high-performance card (this one is low on the list!)

7. a remote for the shutter...
8. a nice tripod.
9. a 35mm prime lens 
10. a light sensor.

i suppose i would also add here some reflectors.. but i'm not even sure what i "need" (want) since i don't know much about them!  :)

Seneca Guns

I was just reading an article on WRAL.com about a boom rattling the coast. Apparently, there was a boom and a shake and it is unexplained.  Military doesn't claim it, USGS says there wasn't an earthquake either. 

I thought this would be a great article to read during my lunch break - "article" meaning the chance to read about the idiot explanations in the GOLO comment section beneath the article.  And, well, I was mostly right.  I haven't really a guess as to why it happened so I thought i'd be fun to see why the rest of NC GOLO thought it happened.  I read about Seneca guns and Blackbeards cannons.  I had no idea what either of those were.  I couldn't find anything quickly about what Blackbeards cannons were so I searched for Seneca guns - and actually found a USGS webpage about them!

INTERESTING!

Basically, "Seneca Guns" is just the term for an unexplained loud boom and the sonic vibration that goes along with it.  Even more interesting, the author made a list of things that Seneca Guns were not:  like, Indian Ghosts firing to disturb descendants of settlers... and a meteor... and top secret military operations (since if were top secret, the military wouldn't let us hear or feel it!)... and lots of other good items that seneca guns are not.  I thoroughly enjoyed the authors logic.  It makes me ready to complete my Monday!