Hell + Stomach Virus = ?

How does it get worse than Hell? STOMACH VIRUS. So, just when I thought I had dodged the Thanksgiving stomach virus, BAM! It hit me Sunday night. Unbelievable retching and pain for 24 hours. Feeling a bit better today....but weak. Times like these when I think, what did I do to deserve this? Anyway...enough of the pity party.

~Chef

The Vacation From Hell

That is the nicest thing I can say about our week at home. We all came down with a terrible cold and Ben spent 2 days in the hospital. My husband and Ben had the pleasure of catching a secondary stomach virus (probably in the hospital) and spent a couple days vomitting. Hence, we missed most of the holiday festivities and did not partake in a Thanksgiving dinner (although I tried to make due with an overcooked rotisserie chicken and store bought trimmings). This was definitely the worst Thanksgiving ever (a close second being during the college years when I came home from the yearly football game so drunk that I had to crawl to my bedroom and slept through the entire day. Mom was not impressed.) Needless to say, I didn't take many pictures, however, my husband did manage to snap this picture of Ben in the hospital with his camera phone.

 

Well...there is always Christmas, right?

Chef 

Vacation all I ever wanted......

Well, we head out tomorrow for Thanksgiving vacation. It will be so refreshing to have a week of no therapy, no work for Andrew, just family time. I will still be able to access my email and site as my in-laws have broadband! Yeah!!! I am actually looking forward to getting in some much needed design and scrapping time.

Speaking of which, I am putting the finishing touches on my new Christmas Kit and hope to have it up next week here and at TDC.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Love,
Chef

Love this guy

Took some photos of my hubby tonight. I really love this picture of Andrew.

 

~Chef 

Isn't he lovely!

Had to take a picture of my dog, Sam, today. He is always under my desk when I am working. He loves being with people and will whine and cry when he is locked out of the room everyone else is in.

 

He is pretty wild for a Golden Retriever and has quite the ferocious growl. Truth is, he would never hurt a fly. Our neighbors have named him, "the barker"...... my in-laws call him stinky....nice, huh?

Nonetheless, he is a wonderful companion and I love him dearly. Yep...he is 100 pounds of love. Ok...sometimes stinky love.

~Chef 

Leeks

Mmmm yummy. The one thing I like about the cooling weather is that I can start enjoying hearty soups and stews. This weekend I bought gorgeous leeks from our local farmer's market. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them before I chopped them up....so instead, I got a picture of them as them were being sauted.

 

Nothing better than homemade potato leek soup.

~Chef 

Afternoon shoot

Ben and I were outside today for a little while (it was so cold here). I got a couple shots of him playing in the yard. This time, I decided to shoot in Manual mode and actually got better results. I love this one.

 

I also played around with Raw tonight and it seems way cool. Lots more control over the final product. I am going to try to get more shots of him tomorrow in Raw.

~Chef 

Morning Shoot

Looks like I have neglected my blog for a couple days. I have been spending my time reading about photography. I am really trying to improve the quality of my photos. I seem to be struggling with lighting. I can never get enough natural light in my house. My pictures are always too dark or a bit blurry because of camera shake or grainy from too fast an ISO. I almost always have to photoshop every picture to get it just right. I am not sure if this is common or not. I just know that I am frustrated.

Anyway, I set up a shoot this morning on my bed. I put a white comforter under Ben and sat him next to an all white wall. The shades were pulled open and the sun was high in the sky. I still had lighting issues. I think that my house is just not situated for great natural light. I was able, however, to get a couple good pics. I love these of Ben with his duckie.

   

I am about half-way done with my Christmas kit. It is taking forever because I keep losing my mojo. If any of you happen to come across it, could you send it back home?

Well...better get back to work...
~Chef 

Is this gorgeous or what?

Burning the midnight oil...going through pictures. Had to post this one. We went to the apple orchard last weekend. Have I mentioned that I LOVE this time of year?

 

Bon Soir
~Chef 

Angel Face

I snapped this picture while Andrew was taking Ben downstairs. He just looked so cute, I had to put it on my blog.



Today was a gorgeous day here in Boston. 70 degrees and sunny. I took advantage of the weather and planted some daffodil bulbs. Yes, I waited until the last minute...but at least I got them in.

Also, got my hair cut and highlighted today. I LOVE my hairstylist. She is so cute and young and fun. She loves doing foils so my hair color always comes out nicely. I had to get it done before Thanksgiving. It is funny, in my twenties, I would pay to have my hair cut and colored every 6-8 weeks. Now, I am lucky if I get it done every 3 months. It is sort of liberating in a way.

My brother-in-law gave me an iTunes gift card for my birthday, so I downloaded some new tunes. Diana Krall's Christmas CD and a couple singles. Jammin as I type. Thanks Phil.

Well, that's about it. Working on a Christmas Kit. Hope to have it up at the Digi Chick next week and then on ScrapKitchen after Thanksgiving. We'll see though....lately, I have really been pinched for time.

Later,
~Chef 

From the "Is this really news?" file

Every morning I scan the news websites while my son watches Elmo. I found this little gem this morning on CNN.com:

What does Bush keep in his pockets?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush may be burdened with the world's problems, but his pockets are pretty light. It turns out the leader of the free world doesn't have to worry about carrying all the essentials of the common man. Bush revealed the contents of his pockets Tuesday to an Argentine newspaper reporter who was interviewing him in advance of a presidential trip to Latin America later this week. When the reporter from La Nacion asked Bush to show him what he carries, the president stood up, fished in his pockets, then dramatically pulled his hands out holding nothing but a white handkerchief that he waved playfully in the air. "Es todo," Bush told the Spanish-speaking reporter, meaning the handkerchief was all. "No dinero, no mas. No wallet." He doesn't need any cash, since his staff takes care of buying anything he might need. He carries no cell phone, either, since he is surrounded by aides who take care of dialing his calls. And why would he need keys since every door is held open for him and his car comes with a driver trained by the Secret Service? The Argentine reporter, who interviewed Bush at the White House with other journalists from the Latin American media, asked the president if he even had a watch. "Si, Timex," Bush said, thrusting out his wrist to show off a timepiece that had his middle initial, W, on the face. "But I'm not supposed to be endorsing products."

And this was on the front page "above the fold", if you will, on CNN.com. I mean really, is this news???? No wonder this country is in the sad sad state it is in. What the hell has happened to our journalists in this country?

Anyway....not feeling great today. Going to try to take it easy.

~Chef