Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography

Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography
Engagements - Weddings - Families - Children - All Occasions

Located in Adrian, MI
dcophotography@hotmail.com

GRRRRRRR!

Its 9 p.m., what should I do? Oh yeah, let's mow the lawn. Brilliant idea!

One of my neighbors is mowing his lawn as I type. I'm sure that I will fall to sleep without any problems!

Why didn't you start mowing earlier in the evening? I'm guessing you don't have to get up for work tomorrow at 4 a.m.

The decision

I decided to send in my registration form for the upcoming Bruce Jones Memorial Run in Blissfield on June 25. I had the form filled out for two months except which race I was running in the 5k or 10k.

I took down the form from the bulletin board, looked it over and told myself to not be such a wimp. I checked the box for the 10k run. This will be my first 10k race since last November.

Should be interesting. I haven't done a 6 mile training run in a while.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk

Currently Reading: The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh
Up Next:

Credential trouble

After eating lunch with co-workers, I drove up to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn this afternoon to pick up my press credentials for this weekend's race. Usually every race week, I take the 25 minute drive to the track on Thursdays because there is always a problem when I pick them up.

I walked into the credential trailer and a couple of guys were being helped by MIS workers. A woman said that the girl at the end could help me. I walk over to her and say my name. She shakes her head and says it is not there. Then she asked me where I worked and who some of the other names were on the credential list. I named off everyone on the list. She still couldn't find it. Then another woman came over to assist. She brought over another binder full of credential requests. She went to the tab labeled D and my newspaper's list was right on top. In the middle of the list was my name. Come to find out the girl that was helping me was typing in my name wrong. She typed in my maiden and hyphenated name in the wrong order. Last year I had the same problem. I even showed the girl my license. Oh well, that is why I picked them up today.

Now I have my parking passes, my hot/cold garage passes and my photo pass. Everything is set. I will be at Michigan International Speedway on Friday to photograph the NEXTEL Cup Time Trials and the ARCA race. Saturday, my co-worker Mike will be at the track alone to photograph the Craftsman Truck Series race. Sunday both of us will be shooting the 3M Performance 400 which actor Adam Sandler has been named grand marshal. I hope I'll be able to see him. I loved him in Billy Madison.

The rundown

Out on my 3.4 mile run today, I thought my legs were going to give up on me. I ran on Sunday but decided to take a day off of running yesterday. For some reason that didn't seem to help. My legs were very tired. Other then my legs being tired, I got honked at by someone and four dogs barked at me. I would rather have dogs bark at me then people making stupid comments.

On Thursday I have to mail in my entry form for the Bruce Jones Memorial 5K/10K run that will be held on June 25 in Blissfield. I don't know whether to stick with the 5k that I have been running for 3 years or try the 10k course for the first time. I really haven't trained for the 10K. The most I have run in a while has been 4 miles. But I know I could run the 10k with no problems. I guess I have 2 days to figure out what I'm going to be running.

What's in a name?

Growing up I thought I had a unique name: Deloris. I didn't share my name with anyone at school. I didn't know anyone who had the same name as me. How I spell my name, Deloris, is different then the ways I've seen it spelled: Delores or Dolores.

When people have to write my name down, I always have to spell it for them. If I don't, it ends up being spelled -es, instead of -is. All throughout elementary, junior/senior high, college and my life now, people always spell it wrong. A couple of days ago a company sent me a notepad and address labels with my name on it. It was very nice of them to do that, the thing is my name was spelled wrong on everything. The address labels went into the shredder and I kept the notepad. Hey, I can always use paper.

The Detroit Free Press had an article in today's paper about how parents want to be different with their children's names. In the year 2000, there has been 5 boys in the United States named Cobra. Come on, Cobra? Two hundred seventy six boys named Armani. On the girls side, Lexus was the chosen name for 353 babies. My personal favorite, Avis is the name for 9 girls. Did the parents like the Avis car company that much?

I got picked on in school with the name, Deloris. How bad are this kids going to get picked on?

Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography

Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography

Engagements - Weddings - Families - Children - Special Events

Located in Adrian, MI

dcophotography@hotmail.com

Why, blogspot, why???

I tried to post on both of my blogs today, but had problems. What is going on with blogspot? Usually it takes my computer 30 seconds to post, today it kept saying cannot find server. What is up with that? If blogspot is still having issues Friday, I might not post. I can't sit in front of my computer for an hour to see if it finally posted. GRRRRR!!!

The gas station

Today after going to the bank, I decided to stop at a national chain gas station to fill up my car. I pulled to gas pump #3 and put $20 or just over 7 gallons into my tank. I finished filling up, put the gas nozzle back, screwed the gas cap back in and found a Twenty in my pocket and opened the door to the gas station. I walked to the cash register and saw the male cashier on the phone looking into the cooler. He then reached back with his right hand and totally dug the underwear out of his ass.

He then saw my reflection in the cooler doors and came over to the cash register. While still on the phone he asked if I filled up. I said, "Twenty on #3." Then I handed him my money and left. I'm so glad I didn't have to touch his gross hands. I hope he plans on washing his hands before touching some food products. But he probably won't because he probably thinks no one saw him playing with his ass.

Things seen on my run

Besides the heat and the humidity, I know when it is officially summer. Today on my run two different ice cream trucks passed me with their happy and cheerful music playing, hoping to get kids to run to their trucks to purchase some yummy ice cream. After both trucks went by, I ran by two girls on the sidewalk eating ice cream.

More Chris & Anna photos

Over on DCO's Photo Gallery today I posted more pictures of Chris and Anna's engagement session from Saturday. To see more photos go here.



Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography
Engagements, Weddings, Families, Children and other events.
dcophotography@hotmail.com

The "express" lane

While waiting in the express lane at Meijer today, a woman ahead of me bought a pool that was on sale. She also bought intertubes, other pool floaties and pool shock.

When the cashier finished ringing up her stuff, he said "That will be $301.00".
The woman said, "Three hundred dollars! I thought the pool was on sale." At this point she looks at me and says, "hand me the Meijer insert." I just looked at her and took a step back, she was looking at it before getting to the cash register and she set it down. I stepped out of the way so she could get it herself. She reached over me and got it. Then proceeded to turn the pages to find the pool ad.

"See!", the woman said. "It says $279.00." At this point the cashier and I looked at the screen above the cash register, the pool rung up at $279.00. He said, "the pool rung up at $279.00." The woman said, "I thought it rang up at $301.00."

Uh, don't you remember that you bought an extra $20 in pool stuff? Or were you so excited about the pool, you forgot?

By the way, thanks for holding up the line.

Engagement session - Chris & Anna

Today I met my friend Chris and his fiance Anna at Trestle Park in Adrian to take some engagement photos. The session lasted for almost an hour and I ended up taking 186 photos. Chris and Anna are a great couple that made me laugh and were really easy to photograph.

I picked two that I liked so far. There are so many more pictures to go through and edit yet.

Wine and Cheese reception - LCVA Gallery

Lenawee Artists: All Ages
May 18 - July 1, 2006

Friday, June 2, 2006 the Lenawee Council for the Visual Arts Gallery is hosting a wine and cheese reception from 5-7 p.m. If you are in the Adrian area and would like to see some great work from artists from Lenawee County of all ages, stop by the gallery.

The LCVA Gallery is located at 112 West Maumee, Adrian, MI. Phone number is 517-265-4403. Hours for the gallery are Thursday 4-8 p.m., Friday 10-2 p.m., 4-8 p.m. and Saturday 12-4 p.m.

Postcard credit: lcvamembers.blogspot.com
Thanks Gregg.

A day of rest

After working 13.5 hours on Tuesday, I decided to leave work today after 6. 5 hours. One of the reasons I left early was my watch battery died this morning at work. I kept looking at my watch during work, it was blank. I kept forgetting it was dead. After leaving work, I went to JCPenny and had a new battery put in. It is a Timex Ironman watch, it took me 10 minutes to program the day, year and time.

The second reason I left early was I had less then 5 hours of sleep. I didn't get home until 10 p.m. Tuesday night. I still had to eat dinner and take a shower. I didn't get to sleep until after 11 p.m. I woke up this morning before 4 a.m. So after getting my battery replaced in my watch, taking a photo order to Image Gallery, cashing a check at the bank and filling up my car with gas, I stretched out on my couch and took a 2 hour nap.

Wednesday is a day that I schedule myself to run on. I was putting on my GPS wrist tracker/timer and it started thundering. I watched the Weather Channel and the radar showed a big patch of storms/rain heading to Adrian. Not wanting to chance it, I ran on my treadmill in the basement. Today was a nice easy run of 3 miles. When finished running, I went upstairs and looked out the window. It just started to rain.

Today was the day for taking it easy. Tomorrow, I won't be leaving work early like today. But I will try to get my schedule back to normal, with an afternoon nap before my girls soccer district game.

A quick post

Today starting at 4 p.m. is The Daily Telegram Individual Invitational (DTII) or as I like to call it the DTII's, hosted at Adrian High School. The newspaper I work at hosts a track invitational every year of Lenawee County's best track and field athletes. The top 8 athletes with the fastest times/or distances are invited to participate. So I will be busy taking many, many photos during the entire meet.

Thunderstorms went through town around noon. Now it is sunny and starting to get hot and humid. I hope the thunderstorms and rain stay away the rest of the day.

A busy day

This morning I got out of bed around 7 a.m. It felt good to sleep in on a Monday morning. Usually Monday through Friday I'm out of bed by 4 a.m. After letting the dogs outside, I watched some TV. Nothing really great on TV so I watched some Fox and Friends until 7:45 a.m., but before getting dressed to run I flipped it to the The Weather Channel. The local on the 8's said it was 71 degrees in Adrian with 88% humidity. It wasn't even 8 a.m. yet!

After watching the weather I decided to stay indoors and run on my treadmill. I started running on the treadmill and my legs were so tired from the 4 mile run on Sunday evening. I thought I wouldn't make it through my 3 mile run this morning. I wanted to stop and not continue a couple times because my legs were so dead. I finally made it to 3 miles and my t-shirt was soaked. It didn't sweat as bad as Sunday, but it was close. After cooling down from my run I took and shower and then sat on my couch reading a book and watched more TV.

Around noon, I woke up my husband. It was hot in our house, so we really didn't eat lunch. We don't have air conditioning. So while waiting for my husband to leave for work, I took a nap on the couch. When my husband left for work at 1:45 p.m., I got in my car and headed off to two high school graduation parties.

Instead of giving the girls a card and money, I had photographs that I took of them during the cross country and track seasons and had them enlarged, matted and framed. When I handed the photos to both girls I knew that they loved them. The mother of one of the girls already said that she wanted it. So I guess I scored with the pictures.

After the open houses, I drove to my mom's house to spend some time with her, my sisters and my brother. We all talked and had a few laughs. Then I had to go to let my dogs out of the kitchen. I got home and I let them out in the backyard to stretch and do their business. To help them cool off, I gave them each an icecube to eat. They both enjoyed them and ate them quickly.
Now with the dogs laying on the floor downstairs, it is time to change into some other clothes, read more in my book and wait for my husband to come home around 6 p.m. Then tomorrow morning my routine of getting up at 4 a.m. starts all over again.

Running in the dark

Usually on Sundays is my long run of the week. Today wouldn't be any different.

I didn't run this morning because I started doing housework early. Then I got hungry and had something to eat. After I eat, I know I can't run without cramps for 2 or 3 hours. If I waited that long it would be time for lunch. I decided to wait until later in the day to run.

Five o'clock came around and I laced up my Mizuno Wave Riders and stayed inside to run. During my run it is 89 degrees outside, but feels like 93 degrees. And a wonderful bonus of 50% humidity. Those elements were a big factor for me to run on my treadmill in the dark in my basement. I had a fan going and my TV turned to ESPN2 to watch the awesome Prefontaine Classic.

I decided to run 4 miles on the treadmill because on Friday I only run 2.1 miles due to horrible side/stomach cramps. With the 4 miles today, that would put me at 9.6 miles for the week. My goal every week is to run more then 7 miles. I usually run more then 10, but Friday I lost mileage due to the cramps.

While running the first mile, I actually threw up some of my lunch in my mouth. Delicious! Not really. There is nothing like the taste of chicken strips. That was very disgusting. It burned my throat for a bit. Getting past the vomit, after my first mile, I developed the wonderful cramps that shorten my day on Friday. I wanted to get to a 1.5 miles before stopping. I hit 1.5 miles and took a short break. After the break, I didn't have anymore problems on the rest of my run.

Running in the dark on the treadmill was a pleasant experience. I will probably do it again Monday morning on my day off for Memorial Day. During and after my run it looked like I ran threw a garden sprinkler with all of the sweat that was dripping off of me. That is gross and awesome at the same time. It shows me that I'm working hard, and how much I love to run even in heat.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros, Bill Hurter
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw

Currently Reading: Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk
Up Next: The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh

Storm front coming to Tecumseh

Thursday, I had to photograph a girls soccer game at Tecumseh High School. Tecumseh was playing Ypsilanti Lincoln. During the game I noticed how dark the sky was becoming. I knew the area was supposed to get some rain, but these clouds looked very bad.

During the course of the first half, the wind picked up more and the sky got darker. With 10 minutes to go in the first half with the score tied at 2-2, sirens in town went off. Not being from Tecumseh, I didn't know what they were for. When the players heard the sirens, they all ran off the field, grabbed their bags and headed into a building near the soccer field. I was walking off the field and some people asked what the sirens meant, I said I didn't know. A Tecumseh parent was nearby and said that the sirens meant the area was under a tornado warning.

Leaving Tecumseh High School, I called my husband, the cop, who was working at the time. He said that a tornado touched down near Adrian. That is always a comforting thought when I have to drive back to Adrian. While driving back to Adrian, the rain was pouring down. It was hard to see the road. I'm glad that I had some taillights to follow. By the time I got back into town, the rain had stopped and the tornado warning was downgraded to a thunderstorm warning.

All of that wind and rain stopped the soccer game. I don't think the teams continued playing because no results were called into the sports department. That sucks because I had a kick ass picture and we couldn't use it for the sports pages today because the game wasn't finished.

So disappointing.

Never saw this coming

Does anyone think this relationship can last of if it is even real? MSNBC asks the question are Tom and Katie on the rocks?

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

Currently Reading: The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros, Bill Hurter (Doesn't really count as a book. Picking up new ideas for my wedding photography business.)
Up Next:

Random things......

Today over at DCO's Photo Gallery Part Four is the last post of Encore Dance Studio's Friday night recital of 'That's Entertainment'. I emailed Tanya last week about making contact sheets of all of the pictures that I took so people could look at all of them. I will try to have them finished and bring them to the studio when classes start again.

Yesterday before running on my treadmill I turned my TV to ESPN 2 for the adidas Track Classic. During the broadcast ESPN threw it back to the studio to watch Barry Bonds bat to see if he could hit a homerun 715. Yes, I know that the home run record is huge and that a lot of people are following, but I am not. I turned it to ESPN to watch track and field, not Barry bat. I really don't care about the record or Major League Baseball. Barry by the way was out at first. A while later in the track broadcast, ESPN studios had to break in again because Barry was up to bat. This time, he singled to right field. I have an idea. Why don't you break in after he has hit the homerun so you don't bore the people that don't like baseball? I know you want to be first showing the live footage, but after he hits the homerun, everyone is going to see the replay over and over.

This morning at work, I was watching a cable news program and they had a fluff story about what Hillary Clinton listens to on her ipod. Why is this news? Who cares what she listens to? Then they showed on the screen what President Bush likes to listen to. Are we so desperate for news we have to sink so low for this? I don't own an ipod, but I do bring cd's to work with me. In the morning I like to listen to George Strait, My Chemical Romance and Mariah Carey. Shouldn't this be on the TV? Don't people want to know what a nobody like me listens to? I didn't think so.

The last couple of days....

Thursday night was a awesome! I got to hang out with friends that have moved away from Adrian. A few of us ate dinner together at Mister Ed's, then we went down to The Barley House and stayed until closing (midnight). I got home around 12:10 a.m., went to sleep around 12:30 a.m. and got up around 4:20 a.m. Friday morning to get ready for work. I walked into work at 4:45 a.m. The night was great. I wish I could have hung out with the gang longer. Dang.

Friday afternoon was jam packed with activity. Only on four hours of sleep, I drove 35 minutes north to Grass Lake. Grass Lake hosted the Division 4 Regional Track finals. I arrived at the school at 2:30 p.m. and stayed till 8:45 p.m. Besides working a long day, I was also wearing my winter coat. Who wears a winter coat on May 19? At the 2005 Grass Lake regional, it was about 80 degrees and sunny. Friday it was windy and 45 degrees. BRRR!! Anyhoo, after leaving the meet I still had the drive back to the office and download all 102 images that I took. My day was over around 10:30 p.m. after 12.5 hours of work.

Congratulations to Ernie Ayers and the Sand Creek boys track team for winning the Division 4 regional title at Grass Lake. Sand Creek's boys team won the regional title with 77 points in a very close meet, with the top four teams all from the Tri-County Conference within 17 points of one another. Sand Creek girls team finished second behind Madison with 81.53 points. Madison's girls team won the regional title with 109 points.

Today was another busy day. This morning I drove to Hillsdale College to cover another Division 4 regional track meet. I arrived at the college and it was cool and sunny. I wore a light jacket, at least it wasn't my winter coat like yesterday. Around noon it got warmer so I took off my jacket, my face and arms got sunburned. Some areas of my face weren't burned due to the fact I was wearing sunglasses. I have a little bit of white on my face to go along with a lot of red. That looks attractive.

Tomorrow besides running and housework, I plan to lay on the couch most of the day and catch up on my sleep.

Last night

Last night was America's Next Top Model season finale. I didn't care who won as long as it wasn't Jade. I was happy to see her eliminated, leaving only Danielle and Joanie. After seeing the photo shoot and the runway show, I didn't know who was going to win.

The winner ended up being Danielle.

After ANTM, I went up to my bedroom to go to sleep. I had problems getting asleep because my neighbor and her little friends decided to be so noisy. They were screaming, talking, and laughing so loud. I shut my bedroom windows because the forecast called for rain. It just seem like I left them open. I could hear every word that they were saying. They were like this last summer as well. I guess that they don't have have a job and can party all night. As I was pulling out of my driveway before 4:30 am to go to work, I see the glow of a TV on the front porch and hear her laughing. I wish I could party all night.

Tonight I'm getting together with a bunch of ex-co-workers and co-workers. Some of us are going out to dinner then meeting up at a downtown bar. We all haven't been together since last year, so it is kind of a reunion. It will be fun to catch up, see everyone and remind me of the wonderful, fun past. Ahh memories!

Photo credit: www.upn.com

Over 200

Today with my run of 3.5 miles, I have passed 200 miles run for 2006! I'm very excited. It makes me so happy that I have run so much this year. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to run more and I think I have accomplished that. I didn't type it on my blog but I know that I told family members that I wanted to run over 365 miles this year. I think with the way I'm running now, I know I will beat that.

Miles run up to May 17:
2005: 121.6
2006: 201.1

Random things......

It has been raining for almost an entire week here in Adrian. Can the rain go away for a while?

For the last three weeks everytime I had photographed a track meet it has rained. Today at the start of the Sand Creek/Whitmore Lake track meet the sun was shining. No rain. Then the dark clouds came and the rain started. At first it was a light sprinkle. It turned into a cold steady rain. At that point I was getting wet. I decided to walk to my car and get my long raincoat. When I got it out of my truck, put it on and walked back over to the track, the rain let up. About 10 minutes later the sun came back out and got very warm. All of that work and the rain stops. On a good note, it was nice to write notes without the ink smearing.

Tomorrow on my photo blog, DCO's Photo Gallery, I will be posting the first part of Encore Dance Studio's Friday night recital, 'That's Entertainment'. Today I posted the last part of Wednesday nights rehearsal.

Right now I'm working on starting a wedding photography business. Trying to nail down prices for coverage, albums and extras is a lot of work. When I'm completed with it. I know it will be worth it. When I get the website up and running, I will link my blogs to it. Keep checking back if you or someone you know is looking for a wedding photographer in Southeastern Michigan. Or send me an email at dcophotography@hotmail.com.

National Police Week

This week, May 14-20, 2006 is National Police Week. Today a ceremony was held at the police officers' memorial in Oakwood Cemetery in Adrian . The memorial honors police officers who were killed in the line of duty.

This is important to me because my husband is a cop. It is important to my husband to honor the fallen officers and never forget. My husband and I have been to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. twice. Both times I have been there it has been very moving. To see the endless amount of names etched onto the memorial, it just brings tears to my eyes. All of these fallen officers gave their lives in the line of duty.

Heroes live forever.





TOP PHOTO: Names of the fallen officers from Lenawee County.
MIDDLE PHOTO: Roses on the wreath of the fallen officers
BOTTOM PHOTO: Officers at the ceremony.

That's Entertainment

Tonight, I had the opportunity to be backstage during Encore Dance Studio's recital "That's Entertainment" held at Tecumseh Civic Auditorium. The show and the dancers were terrific! I shot a bunch of pictures and I will be posting some starting next week.

Until then, check out my photo blog, DCO's Photo Gallery and view Part One and Part Two of Encore Dance Studio's rehearsal of "That's Entertainment" Wednesday night.

Encore Dance Studio rehearsal photographs

Starting today over on my photo blog, DCO's Photo Gallery I have posted pictures from Encore Dance Studio's rehearsal of "That's Entertainment". I will continue to post six photos at a time. Friday night, I will be back at Tecumseh Civic Auditorium to take photographs of that night's performance.

Keep checking back for a new set of photos next week.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow

Currently Reading: In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Up Next:

Weird...

While waiting at a red light this afternoon, a woman sitting on the passenger side of a vehicle in the lane over says to me:

Lady: " I like the color of your car."
Deloris: "Thank you." *Smiling and nodding*
Lady: "Its the color of Halloween."

When she said that I nodded again, looked away and was glad the stoplight turned green.

Metallic Orange is the color of Halloween? OK.

Random things......

I work at a newspaper. This is something that I don't want to see in print, but everyone knows its true. Take for example, every morning at work I read four newspapers online.

Why is it the garage man will pick up furniture, couches, chairs, piles of wood, and other random crap from our neighbor's houses, but will not pick up a 21-pound bag of dog crap? This is the third or fourth time that this fucker just ripped open the bag and left it in front of our house. The rules state that a garbage bag can't weigh more then 40 pounds. But this jerk refuses or can't lift up and throw at 21-pound bag into his dump truck? That's amazing because my husband and I seen him lift a huge couch and La-Z-Boy chair into the truck himself. Idiot.

Why is this even newsworthy?

Junior a winner again

Tonight, Dale Earnhardt, Jr won the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond, VA. Junior held off Denny Hamlin with 10 laps to go. This is his first win in 28 races. With tonight's win, that moves Junior up two spots into 6th place in NEXTEL Cup Standings.

It is great to finally see him win again after the horrible season that he had last year.

TOP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. during driver introductions at the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI - August 21, 2005.

BOTTOM: Dale Jr in victory lane after the Crown Royal 400 - May 6, 2006. Photo Credit - www.nascar.com

Things heard and seen on my run

Friday after my husband went to work, I went on a 4.4 mile run. It was a great afternoon. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing and it was still warm. Things overheard and things that I saw while running.

- Two guys on a front porch. One man was giving another man a haircut. I ran by the porch and the man giving the haircut yells at me, "Slow down". Then both men start laughing. Yeah, you're hilarious! Loser.

- I had to stop at a crosswalk for several cars that had the green light. After all of the cars cleared the intersection, I looked both ways to make sure no other cars were coming. As I cross the intersection a car that was waiting at the red light, decided to go right through it. Just because I crossed the street during the red light, that doesn't give you the right to run a red light in your car. Jerk.

- A little girl dressed up in a Spanish outfit having a good 'ole time dancing on the sidewalk.

- An old man in a Pontiac Montana driving straight towards me on the side of the road. Just as I jumped out of the way so he didn't run me over, the old man finally yanked his steering wheel in the other direction, avoiding me.

- I ran down into a local park to add more miles and a big hill to my run. Before leaving the park, I ran right by a wedding. It looked like the bride's dress and hair was from the turn of the century, or at least the 1980's. I'm sorry nobody wears a dress like that anymore.

My Dad's scholarship

I wrote on April 10th about my Dad. If he was still alive he would have turned 64. I graduated from Sand Creek High School in 1997. In between my freshman and sophomore year at Siena Heights University in Adrian, my dad, John died on August 15, 1998. It was very devastating to me and my family. All of our lives changed in that one instant.

When he died, we wanted to give something back to community and schools of Sand Creek. We asked that memorial contributions be made to Sand Creek Community Schools. My dad was on the Board of Education for 16 years, some of his final terms as Vice President and he was also on the High School Building Committee. I believe in 1999, the school called us and said that the money from Dad's memorial contributions were sitting in a bank account. The school wanted to know what we wanted done with the money, we suggested a scholarship in his name.

Today at work, I received a phone call from Ann, and she asked me to put together a couple of paragraphs about Dad and his life. His dedication to the community and schools and how his mother, sister and seven children all graduated from Sand Creek High School. The paragraphs have to be emailed to Ann next week for the school's upcoming Achievement Night.

I thought that it was nice that the school finally wanted us to be involved with the John Wayne Clark Scholarship (Fifth down on the list - John Clark Scholarship). I'm glad that some money goes to a student that will be attending college. I'm very proud that something that my Dad's name is attached to helps someone out. That is how Dad was, always helping anyone out who needed it.

My long day

Yesterday, I photographed a Adrian College baseball game. The game started at 2 p.m. The weather was wonderful, sunny and 70 degrees. Usually I don't stay the entire game. I shoot whatever I can until the 5 or 6th inning and leave. When the 6th inning came the score was still 0-0. Adrian College and Albion College just couldn't score. When the 7th inning passed and it was still scoreless, that is when I heard someone say extra innings. For some reason I always thought college played 9 innings.

The first game of the doubleheader was finally won in the bottom of the 12th inning. Adrian College beat Albion 1-0. The game started at 2 p.m. I think it got over after 4:30 p.m. During those 2.5 hours my face and arms got sunburned. My husband always tells me to put on sunblock, but I usually don't. That is not good being a natural redhead with fair skin.

After standing in the sun for 2.5 hours, I decided to go run 3.5 miles outside. It was a nice run, but the first half my legs were really tired. After my run, I ate dinner, took a shower and sat on the couch waiting for America's Next Top Model to start. I made it through the first half hour just fine. Then I layed down on the couch to watch the last half hour. What a mistake! I fell asleep. I woke up to see Furonda get eliminated. I don't like Jade, I wanted her to leave. But after watching Furonda trying to perform her Thai dance, I knew she would be eliminated.

Now that it is down to the final four, I would like to see Joanie win. Her photos have been really good recently. Well, I would like to see anyone but Jade win. Jade is so smug and she thinks she knows it all. Isn't she to old to start modeling? Anyway, I don't want her to win.

Photo Credits: www.upn.com

Rain soaked mess

Tuesday I was so happy to photograph one of the biggest track meets, at least to me, Sand Creek vs. Madison. Every year the Tri-County Conference title comes down to these two teams. I was hoping the rain would go away, but it didn't.

I came to the track meet prepared. I was wearing a long rain coat, my photo vest, a rainproof jacket and a hat. I thought that would keep me dry. While waiting for field events to start, the skies opened a it rained hard. My raincoat stopped at my calf, so my pant legs got all wet. In about 10 minutes the wet areas on my pants legs spread up to my knees. Good thing it stopped there. Beside my pant legs, I was having other troubles. The rain found its way down my collar and soaked my photo vest and parts of my "waterproof" jacket. The inside of my jacket arms were all wet and it just felt gross.

When the running events started I was able to keep my Nikon D100 dry by hiding it under my huge raincoat. That worked for most of the meet. Near the end of the meet, it started to rain again, only harder. My camera got all wet. My notes also got all wet. I had blue spots of ink all over. It is very hard to take notes in the rain. During the 800 meter run I just stopped taking notes. Its a good thing I knew the athletes. After the 200 meter dash, I left because my notes were soaked, my camera and pants were wet and I was getting tired and hungry.

On another note, The Sand Creek boys and girls track teams swept Madison. The boys won with the score of 101-62. The girls score was 86-77.

TOP PHOTO: A helper measuring in a puddle of water during the girls shot put.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Kailah Gerig anchored the winning 3,200 meter relay and won the 800, 1,600, and 3,200 meter runs.
RIGHT PHOTO: Sand Creek boys beat Madison for the win in the 400 meter relay.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees

Currently Reading: Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
Up Next: In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan

Currently Reading: Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Up Next:

Random things......

My husband Mike's birthday was April 27. For his birthday we drove down to Maumee, OH to play some miniature golf at the Maumee Sportsmall. It was fun, but very windy. Mike shot a 48. I shot a 63. Mike said that it was payback since I beat him playing miniature golf last August up in Mackinaw City, MI. Some payback.

Last week, I had to wake up early everyday. Monday through Saturday it was for work. On Sunday, I got up early to run in the 5K-Nine Race in Adrian. You can read about the 5k race here. This weekend, I can finally sleep in. I'm not photographing any games Saturday. I can stay in bed a little longer and try to run in the morning. During the summer, I like to run on Saturday mornings. I hope I can get back on that schedule, when work doesn't interfere.

I was in a restroom doing my business when the woman in the stall next to me flushes the toliet, walks out of the stall and out of the restroom. GROSS! Is it so hard to wash your hands? I don't want to touch the door handle after your dirty hands have touched it. WASH YOUR HANDS!

The Man in Black returns

This weekend at Talladega, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive a special paint scheme in honor of his father Dale Earnhardt, who would have turned 55 on April 29. Dale Sr. was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. On Sunday, The Man in Black will be at the track. Only in the form of Dale Junior's car, it will be black like his father's GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, instead of Budweiser red.

It will be nice to see the black car return, if only for one race.

Photo Credit: Harold Hinson, HHP Images

This is April?

I never thought I would be wearing a winter coat on April 25.

I wore my winter coat today while photographing the Adrian/Saline track meet. It was very cold and windy. I left my hat in the car because were I parked the trees blocked the wind, so I didn't think it was windy. Once I was standing in the middle of track, I soon regretted not putting on my hat.

What I couldn't believe was the spectators wearing t-shirts and shorts. I watched the Weather Channel before leaving home and it said that it was 46 degrees with a wind chill of 39 degrees. I saw a group of third grade students in t-shirts, a girl wearing a little thin sweater that didn't look warm at all. Here I am wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, gloves, my winter coat and I was still cold.

Come on. Its April 25, where is the warm weather?

The treadmill saga......

Today I decided to run after I got home from photographing a soccer game. I pulled into my driveway around 7:30 p.m. After parking my car, I let the dogs out in the yard and changed my clothes to run. I stayed in to run on the treadmill since it was getting late and the sun was going to set soon.

I started running and felt really good. Right at 2.5 miles, the power to the treadmill shut off. I was upset. I was only a half mile away from finishing my 3 mile run. I stepped off of the powerless treadmill and started to press the switch to the power strip. It worked! The power came back to the treadmill. I got back on it, pressed the mph button and pressed start. The treadmill lost power again. I tried the extension cord in different outlets. Nothing. I was not going to finish my run, by now it was dark outside. I was very disappointed, my time was very good. I will have to try to squeeze in the rest of my run Tuesday before I photograph a track meet or wait until Wednesday to run after photographing an early college softball game. I will just have to wait and see what my day is like tomorrow.

The 5K-Nine Run

This morning I ran in the Lenawee Humane Society 5K starting in downtown Adrian. When the race started I already knew I started to fast. I always start races too quickly, maybe it is because I don't want to look like a slow poke in front of the spectators watching. Anyway.

While running near the half mile mark these two girls, I shouldn't say girls because they are about the same age as me, women run by me. I was thinking, where did they come from. About two minutes later they both stop to walk. I pass them on the right and continue running. When I reach the mile marker, the guy calling out times said 9:31. I'm thinking, holy shit, I did start out too quick and maybe I could have my best time yet. Then this is where the trouble started. I developed these horrible stomach cramps. The pain was so great, I just wanted to stop and ask someone for a ride back. I know your supposed to work through the pain, but I was about ready to stop and quit. But I didn't. I paid money to run this 5k and I wanted to finish. After "working" through the pain, which actually means running slower, it started to go away. Then that is where I heard the footsteps behind me.

I look out the corner of my right eye and it is a lady running with her dog. I was so relieved that it wasn't those two women from the half mile. I kept looking straight ahead, running a little faster since the pain is gone. Then I hear more footsteps behind me. I see from the shadows on the road that it is the two women and the lady with her dog. At the second mile, all three women pass me. I was so pissed. All three of these people all stopped to take walks. Here I am working my ass off, running through terrible pain and never stopped to walk once getting passed by these people. I started to run a little faster. But they were getting away. I knew that I couldn't catch them. But I did catch the lady with the dog and finally passed her.

Around 2.5 miles, this guy who stopped and walked several times got up right beside me. Here was another person who took walk breaks running next to me. Then out of nowhere he starts running faster and starts to break away from me. Something inside of me knew that he wouldn't be able to make it up the final hill without walking. As he is finally in the middle of this huge hill, he starts walking. I knew it was time to pass him. I continued running up the entire hill and passed him. Near the finish, Carrie, a co-owner of a wonderful shoe store dedicated to runners, gets between this guy and me. She was running with us saying Deloris you're almost done, good job. She also said that to the guy to encourage him to finish, but without my name, of course. We make the final turn and I knew I wanted to beat this guy. I started my final sprint and left him behind. I always save enough to sprint to the finish, it is obvious that this guy didn't. I finished the 5K in 31:57.56, my best time ever!

After the race, people I knew came up to congratulate me and told me I did a good job. It felt nice to finally beat people. When I started running 5K's back in 2003, I always finished last. The first 5K I ever ran my time was 39:37.12. Since then I got my times down by almost 8 minutes and I have lost almost 30 pounds.

With my time of 31:57.56, I felt that maybe I would receive a medal for being the top 3 in my age group. Carrie is reading the names of runners who received medals. It gets to my age group and the first two names are read. Then I was hoping my name would be third, but it wasn't. The name that was read was one of those girls who walked and ran the 5k and finally passed me at the 2 mile mark. I was pissed! GRRRR!!! I didn't throw anything or kick people, I clapped for her. After my age group I saw that the volunteers posted race times. I went to go look at them. Those two girls finished 30 seconds ahead of me. I finished 5th in my age group. Oh well. If I didn't have those cramps during the second mile, the race could have been different.

I guess I will have to wait until the next race hoping to add to my medal collection. As of now, I have 7 medals and 1 plaque.

What's type of personality do you have?

You Have A Type A- Personality

A- You are one of the most balanced people around. Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want. You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back. Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds.

Do'>http://www.blogthings.com/typeaquiz/">Do You Have a Type A Personality?

When did it become so expensive?

For the past couple of days I have been scanning, cropping, resizing, discarding color information from two weddings that I have photographed a couple of years ago. The reason that I'm doing this is I need to get a portfolio together to show it to perspective clients, I'm trying to get back into shooting weddings. I received a CD of images from one bride in the mail. It came to me all the way from New Mexico. The other wedding, I had to pick up the pictures at my sister's. I have been busy trying to get a CD of images ready to take to my favorite photo processing place in town.

Today, I burned the images on a CD and took it to the business. I told the employee that I wanted 5x7 and matte finish. I wanted to go with 5x7 instead of 4x6 because I wanted a larger print for the perspective clients to view in the coming weeks. I was told that the prints would be ready in a hour.

I went back later in the day. The employee got my pictures and punched numbers into the cash register. They said, $150.00. I'm like, What? I said that there is no way that they could be that much. The employee said that I had 50 images. Fifty images times $3.00 is $150. I was so shocked. First of all, I didn't even think I had that many images on the CD. Second, I didn't know that 5x7's were $3. I told the employee, if I had known that they were $3 I wouldn't even had gotten that size. I felt like the biggest idiot. Then the employee said that the prices change a lot and maybe she could help me out. The employee looked into a pricing guide and said that they the prints could be a $1.50 each. So the employee crossed out the $3 and wrote $1.50. I thought that was nice, because they didn't have to do that. The employee said they felt bad. I told them they shouldn't feel that way, it was my fault. I should have asked about the prices. I told the employee that I would be back next week with $75.

With waiting for the CD to be sent to me from New Mexico, scanning pictures and the price of the 5x7's, I hope I get a little good news coming my way soon.

TOP PHOTO: My sister Debbie and her husband Dennis after their wedding in 2001.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Angie and her husband Lance at The Toledo of Museum of Art after their wedding in 2004.

Question?

I watch America's Next Top Model every Wednesday on UPN. During the opening of the show, video and pictures of the past winners appear on the screen. All except for Cycle 1 winner Adrianne Curry. In the spot where Adrianne's picture should be is one of Lisa from Cycle 5. Umm.... why? She didn't win. SHe wasn't even in the final 3. Why doesn't America's Next Top Model recognize Adrianne as a winner?

Its like they are trying to forget about her.

Photo credit: www.upn.com

Lazy

While my husband Mike was in Lowe's buying deck supplies, a family came out to their truck with a cart. The dad pulled the cart to the back of the truck to unload the bag of Quikrete Concrete Mix. He lifted up the bag and placed it in the back of his truck. While the dad was putting the bag in the bed of the truck, one of the two kids that was with him put a Quik-Tube™ Pillar Foundation in the bed. After everything was in the bed of the truck they just walked to the cab, got in and pulled away.

Hello? Didn't you forget something?

They left their huge cart hovering over two parking spaces when the cart corrall was only 20 feet away. I can't stand lazy people! Take 20 seconds of your life and put the cart were it is supposed to go. Is it so hard to be helpful?

How gross is this?

Tom Cruise stated that he wants to eat the placenta after fiancée Katie Holmes gives birth.

OK......

Why would you even say that, even if you don't mean it? And, why would you want to eat that? Just the thought of that is nasty.

Grab your knife and fork Tom. Looks like dinner is almost here.

Random things......

Last Thursday I had to photograph a track meet in Clinton, so I decided to stop in Tecumseh, which is on the way to Clinton, to get my engagement and diamond/ruby rings cleaned. My rings were very dirty because I never take them off. It has probably been almost a year since I had them cleaned. I walked into the jewelry store and asked to get them cleaned. The lady took them to the back and came back rather quickly. She told me she couldn't clean them. I asked why. She said that that stones were loose on both rings and she didn't want to put them in the solution. She said that the stones could be tightened. There was nothing that I could do. I didn't want to part with them, but I didn't want to chance losing my diamonds and rubies. So I decided to get my rings tightened. She told me that they would be ready in 7 to 10 days. My fingers look so bare without them. I have the outlines on both ring fingers, still after 4 days. I can't wait to get them back. They will be all shiny and like new.

On Easter, my husband Mike and I went to my mom's house. Only 5 of 7 siblings were present, my brother David and sister Deanna had to work. We had a nice dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and green beans. After dinner Mike and my sister Denise were playing with my nephew's skee ball game. Denise claimed she had the high score of 100 and something. Mike was determined to beat her. He cheated but now the high score is 254. Denise tried several times to beat his score but failed everytime. Its nice to see grown ups playing with a 4-year-olds toy. While they were playing skee ball, I took my camera outside to photograph the barn. I got a few good pictures and there is one posted at DCO's Photo Gallery today.

With my run yesterday of 4.4 miles, I topped 150 miles for the year. My exact mileage is 151.8. Go me!

Why is it that everytime I watch TV, DVD or video I instantly fall asleep? Today my co-worker Lad gave me some videos on how to pose people for portrait photography. About 5 minutes into the tape, I was out like a light. I woke up about 20 minutes later and shut off the tape. What really pissed me off was last night I was laying on the couch waiting for Entourage to end so I could start taping The Sopranos on HBO. Three minutes before The Sopranos started I fell asleep. I didn't start recording and missed the first 45 minutes. When I woke up I finally pressed record and taped the end of The Sopranos and Big Love. Good thing that HBO shows the reruns on Monday nights or I would be lost next week.




TOP PHOTO: I'm sitting on the couch with my nephew Jack.
MIDDLE PHOTO: My husband and sister Denise playing skee ball.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Back row: My husband Mike, my sister Diane, brother-in-law Dennis, my sister Denise and my brother Dan. Front row: My mom and my sister Debbie and her son Jack.

Good Friday fun!

Most people I know had today, Good Friday, off. Unfortunately, I had to work.

I wanted to get to work early this morning, because I had so much to do. I got to work at 4:30 a.m. and one of my co-workers wondered why I was in so early. I told her that I had so much to do that I just wanted to start it. I had to upload eight folders of photos to the internet and I knew that would take almost 2 hours. Then my co-worker informed me that the internet was down and it has been down since midnight. She said that she called the internet providers number and the message said that they opened at 8:30 a.m. What a great way to start the day!

All morning we all hoped the internet would start to work again, but it didn't. At 8:30 a.m. many people from my office called the internet providers number to get some answers. Now, the message was saying that they were having "service issues". You think so? Everyone in town can't get on the internet! Around 10 a.m. I decided to leave work. There was nothing that I could do without the internet working.

After lunch with my husband, I drove up to Ann Arbor to meet blogger/photographer Stacy. We decided to walk around University of Michigan's campus and Forest Hills Cemetery to shoot photographs. It was fun. I never really been out shooting with another photographer for fun. Yeah, I've shot with other photographers, but that is always in the work environment. This was a change of pace that I really liked. Usually when I go out to shoot, I'm usually alone or my sweet husband is with me. He doesn't really have a good time standing around watching me take pictures. But today with Stacy it was really great. I didn't have to explain why I was taking a picture or tell her to wait up. I hope to get back together with her and go on more photo trips.

Starting today, I will be posting photos of the trip to Ann Arbor with Stacy. To view, go to DCO's Photo Gallery.

Photo is of Stacy petting a little dog somewhere on the University of Michigan campus - Ann Arbor.

10th Annual Lenawee County High School Art Show - Adrian, MI

10th Annual Lenawee County High School Art Exhibition

at the LCVA Gallery in downtown Adrian

April 18 - May 10, 2006

Gallery Hours:

Thursday and Friday 4 - 8 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday 12 - 4 p.m.

Reception:

1-3 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, 2006

Awards will be announced at 1:45 p.m.

Over $600 will be awarded.

For more information, contact Tom Bytwork at 266-4569

or the LCVA gallery at 265-4403.

LCVA Gallery

112 West Maumee

Adrian, MI 49221

517-265-4403

LCVA Members

Britney - In the news again

Britney, first you made headlines while driving with your baby Sean Preston on your lap. Now you made headlines again. Wait, scratch that, the nanny actually dropped Sean Preston.

If my baby was dropped on its head, I don't think I would wait six days before having a doctor in a hospital examine my child. But that's just me.



Photo credit: AP Photo

Happy Birthday Dad

John C.

April 10, 1942 - August 15, 1998

Dad,

Today, April 10th, would have been your 64th birthday. It has almost been eight years since you passed away and there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think of you. I often wonder how different my life would be if you were still around.

I miss you and love you.
Deloris

Photo of my dad, John, handing me my high school diploma - May 1997.

The answer to the AOSept Clean Care question that everyone has been asking

I've been searching the internet to find an answer to why AOSept Clean Care has been off of the shelves. I wanted to find the answer so you, the loyal users, knew what happened and when it is supposed to return.

A while back I posted the answer to why it was pulled off the shelves and when it was supposed to return to the stores in the comment section of one of my posts. But, I found a link to another blog that has the answer from Product Consultant from CIBA Vision.

Photo credit: http://clecontactlenses.com/

Random things......

Sunday was the start of Daylight Savings Time, meaning we all lost an hour of the day. Losing that hour, my sleep pattern is all off. Instead of waking up to the alarm clock in the morning, I wake up a half hour before it. I can never get back to sleep, because I always think I'm going to oversleep. This entire week I have been to work a half hour early since I can't sleep.

On my run today, I got yelled at by someone in a passing car and by someone I knew. He yelled my name and said Hi. Good run today. It was a nice 61 degrees.

My husband is in the process of building a deck for the back patio. He broke up all of the concrete from the old patio and replaced a wood fence with a taller fence. The fence was replaced because our dog Blitzkrieg jumped over the old fence and scared our neighbor's son. My husband didn't work on the deck today because he had to draw up plans for the building permit. He might have to wait until Saturday to start working on the deck, all day tomorrow The Weather Channel has called for rain. BOO!

Miss Tyra

According to ETonline.com in tonight's episode Tyra collapses.

Nice acting job Tyra. I thought you really fainted. Here's a question for you? Why did you send Miss Mollie Sue home and keep Jade? Jade is the biggest fake ever. She thinks she knows everything about modeling. Her two commercial shoots were terrible. At least Mollie Sue got out her lines and didn't swear and twirl during her 30 second commercial. By keeping Jade on the show is that a way to up the ratings? Tyra, are you pulling a Santino (Project Runway) by keeping her?

By the way, I loved Santino. I don't care for Jade.

My first outside run of the year

April 4, 2006. It took me until April 4, 2006 to finally run outside. I almost didn't run outside today. I didn't want to run outside because the wind is blowing out of the northwest at 23 mph and gusting up to 31 mph and its 47 degrees out but with the windchill, 39 degrees (yes, I'm a cold weather wimp). I decided against staying inside, running on my treadmill. I grabbed my sunglasses from my car and started my run outside in the sun and wind.

I was surprised how well my run was going. I wasn't breathing hard at all. Thank you to my treadmill for keeping me in shape all winter. I thought it was a nice change of pace. Usually keeping me busy during my run is the TV. This time it was all of the cars coming my way, watching kids ride their bikes and the kids playing a game in the street. It was just like last fall. The memories. Sigh.

About a mile away from my house, I was thinking to myself, I didn't remember the last time that I got through an entire run without a whistle, catcall or some idiot saying shit to me. I was very excited. I was thinking of keeping count how long the streak would last. Then suddenly it was over. While running my last mile home, in the harsh wind a heard a voice directed towards me saying, "Run faster."

My first run outside and the streak is already broken.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan

Currently Reading: The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Up Next: Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees

My visit to the dentist

Today I had a check-up at the dentist. I had good news and bad news. The good news is that I don't have any cavities. The bad news is that the dentist and the hygienist recommended that I get all four wisdom teeth removed. That sounds painful.

After my appointment I told my husband of the news. He said, "You don't have to book the appointment now. You can do it later, when you save up some money." How long will it take for me to save that much money to have my wisdom teeth removed, one year or two?

Don't be angry

I never listened to you on free radio. Why would I want to pay to listen to your show on Sirius Satellite Radio? Yes I know who you are, Howard Stern, but your show is always on when I was in class or now at work. I've seen your show before on E! and watched it, sometimes. I guess there was really nothing exciting to keep me coming back.

Now Howard is mad that his some of his fans haven't made the switch to Sirius. I don't have Siruis Satellite Radio or XM. I don't want to pay $30 or $40 dollars extra to listen to the radio. I'll stay with the free radio and besides when I' m driving I rarely listen to the radio. I usually have a CD playing. If I do listen to the radio, I want to hear music, not people talking constantly.

So Howard I'm sorry that fans aren't making the switch to Sirius as fast as you want them to. Not everyone can afford the fees for satellite radio. I guess you should be happy that you have 4 million listeners. Not every radio personality can say that they have those numbers.

Photo credit: Yahoo Movies