I'm always behind on school work...

Today was quite a busy day, which means I am way behind on school work. First off, Addy has a pretty bad rash from an antibiotic she's been on. We're trying to play it off like it's kind of cool to have spots all over you, but I think she's starting to think it's not really all that cool.

I had lunch with a good friend and then had to drive to Easley to do a few things at Baptist Easley Hospital. I took my camera and took back roads home hoping to find some horses or something to photograph, but really the only good photo I got was through the front windshield while I was driving.

After that I met my dad at home to discuss and measure out possibilities for play sets in the back yard...our back yard isn't very level so it doesn't lend itself to play sets. By the time all that was over it was pretty much time to cook, eat, and put Addy to bed.

Right now I'm just wishing it weren't so hard for me to fall asleep all the time. There's no chance of sleeping in tomorrow, but maybe I can grab a nap before I have to go to work.

There's only so much time...

The first night off is always a rough one. I woke up a little earlier than I usually would today so that I'll hopefully sleep well tonight. I was in charge of Addy tonight because Kristi has Bible Study, so I tried to think of something fun and free to do...and it hit me that none of us have been to the dog park in a long time. Sure, it's a long drive downtown, but Lucy needs the exercise and Addy loves puppy dogs with all of her heart. Needless to say we had an absolute blast...Addy especially. We also had the playground all to ourselves afterwards, which was fun because Lucy would play on the equipment with Addy...I never did get her to go down the slide though.

Today I had one of those moments where I saw something clearly that I don't like about myself. I have had times like this before in high school, or college, or most recently probably when I moved back from Columbia. I think now I feel like I have been defined by working night shifts the past few months. Sure it makes me feel crappy alot of the time, but I've let it dig into my personality, my running, my diet, my free time...pretty much everything. I do not want to be defined by night shift. I may work nights for several more years, but I can't let the physical toll dictate what type of person I am. I think this is what I have been trying to work out of subconsciously by running more, taking Lucy for more walks, and doing fun things with Addy. I was thinking about what I used to do during school while I waited tables. I think that no matter how busy I was, I always made time for exercise, usually ate a healthy diet, I always found fun things to do with the family and with Lucy, and I would find nights that I could cook really unique, delicious food with something good to drink. I am going to try to get back to these habits, because no matter how bad I feel from staying up all night, I can't let those feelings steal the small joys that I have enjoyed in my life the past few years. We'll see how it goes!

Close to home...

Today I slept in pretty late. I always feel lazy when I do, but when I'm going back to work it makes the night so much better. If I wake up at 7 like usual things get real rough around 3 AM. After I got up I wrote a few papers for school and then decided to take Lucy out for some exercise before I go to work. I used to get her outdoors more often, and I think she is really getting depressed because I sleep during the day sometimes...so I'm trying to make an effort to get outside more often when I'm home. I'm always looking for trails near my house, and today I found some great trails in a neighborhood off of Rocky Creek Rd. I don't know if it's frowned upon that I just parked in a cul-de-sac and cut through to the trails, but I imagine as long as I'm a law abiding citizen no one really cares. It said "invited guests only"...maybe I should email someone and see if I can be "invited." I took my Sigma 50-200 lens along and took some pics. I was a little disappointed as I thought there would be more good ones...maybe it was the really bright sunlight. I am still struggling with getting the focus so that everything in the lens is more or less in focus with a small aperture setting. I've read about it but I'm still not getting it the way I would like to. Either way, Lucy had a great time.

Simple is better...

I'm slowly getting over my sickness, although today was the worst as far as my voice goes. I think Addy was a little confused when I walked into her room to get her up talking in a high-pitched raspy voice. Either way, since we missed our usual bacon, eggs, and grits breakfast atThe Coach House on Saturday because of my fever, we went this morning and then Kristi came and got her afterwards. Addy is a big fan of grits especially.

I spent most of the day today trying to figure out what things I can sell or give away that I own. I feel like I just have a ton of crap laying around that I don't use very often, so I'm trying to simplify. I took a few pictures along the way. I also added some noise to the pictures via my more simple photo editing software, Photoscape. I like pictures from old school cameras, so I was trying to make them seem more like those since they are pictures of things from around the house. I especially like the picture of Lucy. I feel like it captures her personality, with her nervous stillness while there is a bunch of clutter and activity all around her. Good ol' Lucy, people think she's crazy, but she's really a pretty good dog.