Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Diana, Sarah Bradford
Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor
Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler
American Spy, E. Howard Hunt
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, Suzanne Finstad

Currently Reading: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay
Up Next: Dearly Devoted Dexter, Jeff Lindsay

What did you say?

Friday afternoon three reporters and I were walking across the street from a parking garage to Ford Field in Detroit. A worker noticed our finals press passes and offered us help.

Worker: "You see where the group of signs is?"

Saturday morning I was watching Food Network while running on my treadmill. I heard something odd.

Chef: "You should see how this smells."

Falling apart - Adrian, MI

Spray painted skull - Adrian, MI

Random things

My husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family. So many little things that need to be done and finished before everyone starts walking in the door tomorrow. Earlier this week, I noticed the kitchen curtains were really filthy. I mentioned to my husband that they should be washed before Thanksgiving. Before going to work, I took down the curtains and my husband put them in the washer. When I woke up this morning, the clean curtains were hanging on the rods. They look like they did we they came out of the package, clean.

I woke up this morning for work at 4 am, went in at 4:30 am. I stayed at the office only until 9:30 am because there was nothing for me to do. I finished all of my work earlier. With all of this free time, I still have time to catch a nap before starting some Christmas shopping.

When my husband finishes with his work this afternoon, we will get in the car and drive to Toledo, Ohio. We are going to start Christmas shopping for family and maybe get something for ourselves. Before driving home to Michigan, we are going to eat dinner at Famous Dave's. I think I'll have the bread pudding for dessert. YUM!

I need to find time today or early tomorrow morning to go to the store and pick up appetizers for Thanksgiving. My husband was going to make a cake for my sister's birthday for dessert after dinner tomorrow. But we didn't want two pies and cake for dessert after dinner. Cupcakes will be a perfect little treat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Books read in 2007

Now that engagement and wedding season is finished for the year, I have more free time. Besides work and running, I have been reading alot. I just finished a book yesterday in just over a day. Maybe with all of this extra time I have I can start making my Christmas cards.


A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Diana, Sarah Bradford
Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor
Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler
American Spy, E. Howard Hunt

Currenty Reading: Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, Suzanne Finstad
Up Next: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay

Back of Apartments 116 & 114 - Adrian, MI

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Diana, Sarah Bradford
Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor
Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler

Currently Reading: American Spy, E. Howard Hunt
Up Next: Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, Suzanne Finstad

Alley - Adrian, MI

Miles run in 2007

Five hundred.

After completing my three mile run this evening, I have run over 500 miles this year. I couldn't be happier! My New Year resolution was to run over 500 miles and I did. I did it this year by trying to run over 10 miles every week. With just over six weeks left in the year, I should run about another 60 miles. Hopefully.

Miles run through November 16:
2007: 500.2
2006: 426
2005: 313.8
2004: 259.6

Apartments 116 & 114 - Adrian, MI

Seeing. How overrated.

This afternoon I had my yearly eye exam. I had to read the lowest line possible on the wall, cover one eye and had a bright light shined in both eyes.

It had been a year since my last appointment, the doctor dilated my eyes to look at my retinas. She left me alone in the room for five minutes for the drops to take affect. At this time, another lady was looking for my prescription for new contacts. A couple of minutes later, the lady who was looking for my contacts said that only the left lens was in and they would have to order the right lens. At that time, I was asked to put in my old contacts so the doctor could look at my eyes since the dilatation drops started working.

The doctor came back in and I realized something. I had to photograph a girls basketball team later that afternoon. I asked the doctor how long do the drops last. She said about four hours. I told her that around 4 pm I had to photograph a team. She said I should be fine by then.

I got in my car at 4 pm to drive over to the school. I noticed my vision wasn't good. I could see far away fine, but right in front of my face everything was out of focus. Not good for a photographer. When I got to the school, the portrait photographer was taking individual photos of the varsity players. I decided to sit on the floor and do tests with my camera. My camera shows a green circle when things are in focus, so I practiced on my shoe that was in front of me. After I took the picture, I looked at the LCD screen. I had to hold the camera way back to see if the image was in focus. It was. The real test was still coming.

All of us waited for the boys to finish practice. When they were finished the team, the portrait photographer and I went into the gym. While the other photographer was setting up the team, I continued to play with my camera and try to get things in focus. I had to rely on the dot inside the viewfinder to let me know when they were in focus. To me that was very hard to do. I know its not like a wedding where you only have one shot at a photo. But I always like to do my best. As I took the team photo, I made sure the green dot was visible. After the team photos I had to take head shots of the girls. I had them stand in two's against a wall. Since the girls and I were so close, they were out of focus. I took two photos each of the girls. I hope they are all usable. If they aren't that would make me feel bad. Tomorrow when I download the photos at work I'll find out how well I did.

AS - Adrian, MI

Random things

Not much has been going on with me lately. Here are a few thoughts that I had.

Project Runway season 4 starts tonight. I won't be watching at 10 pm because I will already be in bed. Even before I watch the season premiere sometime tomorrow, I will be reading an episode recap on one of my favorite sites, TV Squad.

Is it just me or is this season of America's Next Top Model boring? I start watching the show every week but I find myself turning the channel frequently to other programs. I guess I'm tried of Bianca always talking about Heather and her handicap. Get over it Bianca, she is better then you. I really hope ANTM does something to make the show more interesting. If it continues to be this boring for the rest of the season, I may not be back for the next season.

Thursday is Michigan's opening day for gun season, white tail-deer. A few years ago I was the lucky photographer to take photos of all of the dead deer and the proud hunters. This year it is someone else's turn. Every year when a hunter pulls into the lot with his trophy, most of the employees inside run outside to look at the deer in the back of a hunter's truck. I've seen plenty of dead animals growing up on a farm, but I don't like looking at the dead deer. Even though they are dead, it seems like they always have a sad look on their face. The tongues are always sticking out and blood is dripping everywhere. Not exactly what I call a good time.

Trashed - Adrian, MI

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Diana, Sarah Bradford
Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor

Currently Reading: Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler

Up Next: American Spy, E. Howard Hunt

Closed and locked - Adrian, MI

New project on the table

I've started my new photo project. I found out I won't need it by February. The special section of the paper it was supposed to run in got dropped. Now this has become a project that is just for me. Besides my love of cemeteries, mausoleums, statues, deteriorating buildings (apartments, houses, industrial) and ballet, I wanted to add something new. My new project is graffiti.

After working this morning I got in my car and drove to a spot where I noticed graffiti. It happened to be spray painted near a old gas station that is for sale. The gas station is in bad shape with peeling paint and broken windows. It was a perfect subject to be photographed. Once I finished with the gas station I walked to a building behind it and started with the graffiti. A lot of names and swears were spray painted on the back of a neighboring building. When I was in the back, I noticed a boarded up apartment building next to the old gas station. All of the years that I have been driving by that location, I have never noticed it. Its probably due to most of the trees covering the building and the fact that there is no reason to be looking over to the left when I driving. The outside of the apartment building was in not good condition. All I could think is how much I wanted to get in. The only way to get in was broken windows on the second floor, unless I have a ladder with me that isn't going to happen.

Once I left the gas station/apartment, I drove to the industrial side of town. Didn't see anything worth stopping for because there was hardly any or someone painted over the graffiti. A couple of the buildings that I had in mind to photograph were recently painted over. I was mad that I didn't get to shoot it before it was painted over.

So my new project has began. This will probably continue for a long time. I'll add it to my stash of favorite things to photograph. Now that it is in my stash, I will always be on the lookout for it.

Today's Daily photo is from the gas station that is waiting to be sold.

Hole - Adrian, MI

Light switch - Adrian, MI

Random things

In downtown, people act like its almost Christmas. While driving to work this morning, Christmas was as far as the eye could see. Christmas lights in the trees, wreaths, bows on light poles, downtown businesses with lights in the windows. Do they realize Thanksgiving is a couple of weeks away? Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, I consider it too early.

Anyone have suggestions for Thanksgiving appetizers? My husband and I are hosting for my family this year and I would like to make something different. In 2005 we hosted and I made fried ravioli, which turned out well. They all disappeared from the serving tray in record time. I want to make something that is quick, easy and won't hog up oven/stove space from my husband when he is cooking the rest of the dinner. If I get no suggestions then I will make my awesome fried ravioli again.

As of now, I am 16.5 miles away from my goal of running 500 miles this year. Around 5 pm I will be running 4 or 5 miles on my treadmill. So that will knock it down to 11-12 miles to go. Its only early November too, I will be finishing the year with high number of miles.

Friday the weather is supposed to be in the 50s. It will be a nice day to go on a photo shoot and start my new project. I'll keep it under wraps until I think I will have enough photos to make it into a great series. If I don't it's back to the drawing board. Which I hope won't be the case because I need it to be completed by late February.

Another broken window - Adrian, MI

No one to dial - Adrian, MI

It's cold inside

When I get to work in the morning, it is cold outside and inside. I'm cold from the walk in from my car and once I get settled, I warm up.

This morning there was no warm up.

Before 7 am, I walked into my office to grab my scarf. I wrapped the scarf around my neck to warm up. I thought about putting on my coat, but I really didn't feel like answering the question, "Are you cold?" Every time I wear my coat in the office someone who is passing by will say that to me. Usually, I'm one of two people that are always cold, but today a male co-worker said he was cold also. Once he said that I knew it just wasn't me, it was really cold in the office.

An hour later one of the office managers walks over to the thermostat that is located on the wall behind my desk. He looks at it and tells me that the air conditioner is on. He asked me why I didn't turn it off. I said that we are not allowed to touch the thermostat. But why is the air conditioner still on in November? A couple of weeks ago I suspected that it was on, but I never said anything. I was wondering why it was always so cold in the office. At least the heat is on in the building. Maybe I can keep my scarf hanging with my coat when I'm at work.

Not a good sign

My husband and I voted this afternoon for the city commission election. When the machine sucked in my ballot I read the number to see how many people voted before me. I was the 11th person in my precinct to vote for the entire day. The election official said the polls have been open since 7 am. How sad.

Broken fence - Adrian, MI

Weekend update

Friday night, I photographed a district football championship game. The home team won 14-13 and will play again this week. If any of the three teams left in the playoffs win this Friday they will be a game away from the state finals. The only state football final that I photographed was in 2003. The team that I was covering for the newspaper lost 28-14. That was the last Michigan state football finals held at the Silverdome. It would be nice for a county team to make it to the finals, I would love to photograph a state final at Ford Field in Detroit. But these teams have to make it through this week first.

Saturday morning, I drove to Michigan International Speedway to photograph the state cross country finals. The county had runners in 6 out of 8 races. So it was a long day. My first race of the day started at 10 am and the last race that I had to shoot started at 2:30 pm. The highest that any county runner finished in the state meet was 12th. All of the races that I saw were good. Maverick Darling a Ovid-Elsie senior, ran the fastest time of the day with a 14:52.8 in the Division 3 race. He was 40 seconds ahead of the second place runner. He verbally committed to run with the Wisconsin Badgers next fall. It will be interesting to follow his college career at Wisconsin and see how he progresses.

Sunday morning, I ran my last race of the year the Souper Run 10K. It was a nice morning, not too cold but just right. My 5K time was around 33 minutes. I was really doing well then I fell apart. One of the toughest parts of the course is the hill near the end of the race. Starting the hill I knew it would be hard, my legs were very tired. I was still running but if anyone saw me it probably looked like I was walking up the hill. After making it up the hill I recovered by running slowly. Following the slow run, I started running a little faster to finish the race with a good time. I finished in 1:10:55. That was my fastest time ever running that race. Yea me!

Bike trail - Adrian, MI

Halloween things

People at work asked the other day if I was going to hand out candy for Halloween. My answer was no.

For the last five years on Halloween I always had to photograph a game. Last night was the first time I didn't have to work My husband, who loves Halloween, had to work. Since he was working we didn't buy any candy. To make sure that no one would mistake my house as a stop, I didn't turn my lights on in my house until a half hour after trick or treat started. After I turned on my lights, I noticed all of my neighbors sitting on their front porch handing out candy. I wasn't on my front porch so children passed by straight to the next house.

A co-worker this morning mentioned she received Halloween presents from her mother. She asked me if I ever received a present at Halloween. I haven't. I have never heard of anyone buying Halloween presents. Is this something we have to do now, buy presents for every holiday?

Random things

I photographed a pre-district volleyball game yesterday outside of Ann Arbor. While sitting in my car in the parking lot students were getting in their vehicles to leave the school. Some of the students were driving brand new Saab's, Hummers and Audi's. When I was in high school I was driving a very used huge boat, an Oldsmobile Delta. I guess times have changed.

This Friday will mark the end of DCO's Photo Gallery. That blog has been with me since the beginning of 2006 and I love it. I post 5 days a week at DCO and only a couple of days here at click. With shutting down DCO, I can still post my daily photo here and if I have something to write, I can post it. At least there will be something new Monday-Friday. I don't know why I had two blogs, I should have just used click the entire time. Oh well. Instead of stopping DCO what I really wanted to do was merge both blogs into one, but I guess it is difficult with blogger. The blogger help group solution to merging two blogs was to copy and paste all of DCO into click. Sure that would be fine if I had only a couple but I have 490 posts and I'm not going to do that.

Sunday is my last race of the year. I will be running a 10K. After the race is over, I do all of my winter running on my treadmill. I will continue running a lot of miles over the winter. I have to get ready for next season's races. One race that I know the date for sure is the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Half Marathon will be run on October 19, 2008. That will be exciting.

Weekend update

Its football playoff time in Michigan and Friday evening I had to photograph two games. The first game, mostly every play was run up the middle. When teams run up the middle, it makes my night harder. I can say I was definitely struggling to get good photos, or any photos at all. With a scoreless game, less then 15 seconds to go in the second quarter a team drove down to the endzone to score a touchdown finally. I didn't good a good photo from that because it was a quarterback sneak up the middle. My photo was a pile of football players. I don't think I could even see the QB in the photo.

The second game I went to the home team was winning 22-0 at halftime. When it was the start of the third quarter, I wasn't really into the game. The first game depressed me because I really wasn't getting good photos. After seeing a half of nothing but up the middle, it was a nice change to have plays that actually run to the outside. With plays on the outside I actually got some were you could see the players face. Both home teams won and I will be seeing one again this Friday for the District championship.

Saturday morning, I awoke to a lovely gray sky. It really wasn't lovely, I had to photograph an engagement with rain on the way. I arrived first at the session and my couple was running late. While I was waiting for them it started to rain. Normally in those conditions I would cancel, but the couple is from North Carolina and drove all the way here. So we continued with the session. I had fun with the couple and they didn't complain about the rain. After they left I met with another couple. This couple was from the area so we rescheduled for a later date. Next time we meet the weather is supposed to be sunny. That will be a nice change from the cold rain.

Saturday evening, I ran in the Haunted Graveyard 5K. It was a bit chilly. I was only wearing a hat, dri-fit short sleeve and long sleeve shirt and dri-fit shorts. Once the race started I was fine. Before hitting the halfway point at 1.5 miles, I got stomach cramps. A guy that I passed probably a 1/4 of a mile back, passed me. I slowed down the left the cramps pass. While slowing down I tried to stay with the guy that passed me. Finally around 2 miles the cramps went away and I pulled even with the guy. We ran together for a while. I usually never run with people but it was nice to run side by side with someone at my pace. We ran up the first hill together, but I lost him at the second hill. He was beside me but once I got over the crest of the hill, he slowed down. I thought we would run together until the end because I really wanted to out kick him. But I found myself alone. I caught up with a girl because she was running and walking. Once I got to her, she started running. But it didn't last long. She stopped at a water station and continued to walk and drink water. As I was getting closer she started to run but then stopped. She wanted to finish her water. I kept going and tried to put some distance between her and the guy I passed. Those two really didn't get close to me and I finished with a huge gap between us. My time was 32:48.

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Diana, Sarah Bradford

Currently Reading: Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor
Up Next: Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler

I got nothing. Look at these pictures.

Nothing exciting happened to me yesterday or today. Wait I take that back. I went to the dentist for a cleaning. I'm sure you all want to read about that. Instead I posted photos that I love from my shoot at Kathy's house Sunday.

Road fun

Don't you love it when you're the only car on the road? You're cruising at a speed of 62 miles per hour, no one ahead of you or behind you. Then a truck pulls out in front of you instead of waiting because no one is behind you and drives slow?

Yeah, that happened to me the other night. I was cruising at a wonderful 62 mph and a truck pulled out in front of me. Of course since he was driving slow I caught up to him in a hurry. I stayed back because I didn't want to tailgate a guy in his truck. This guy couldn't decide how fast he wanted to go. First it was 60, then 55, 65, 50, and that bothered me. I wanted to pass him, but I couldn't. Every time we came to a passing zone traffic was coming. I decided to be patient and wait for the upcoming passing lanes.

Once we approached them the truck didn't indicate that it was leaving the fast lane. When I saw that he wasn't moving over, I merged to the right lane. The truck decided at the last second to do the same. When he did that I pulled back over in the left lane and started to pass him. He didn't like that. I was up to 70 mph and the truck started to mirror my speed. Then the driver decided to go about 90. I didn't want to get in a road rage incident with him, so I jammed on my brakes (no one was behind me or even on that stretch of road besides the truck) and let the truck go.

The truck continued his high speed until he got caught behind some traffic. I caught back up to him a couple of miles later going 62. We were both stuck behind a bus and we entered a passing zone and the truck made its move to pass. I followed him and passed as well. Clearing the bus, I put my cruise control back on. The truck continued at his high speed. Again, a couple miles up the road I caught back up with him at a stop light. The light turned green and we went. On a two lane road, I actually passed him. He didn't like that so he sped back up. Unfortunately I had to slow down because a van was in front of me, but I didn't mind because my turnoff was just ahead. So the truck and his friend, who probably thought it was funny the entire time, drove away from me down the highway. Hopefully he will play that game with another person and a cop will be nearby to stop and chat with him.

Weekend update

Saturday morning my assignment was moved back an hour. The time was changed late Friday. Since I didn't know, I went by what I had on my schedule. I arrived at the site and no one was there. That should have tipped me off, it didn't. I found out about 20 minutes later and it didn't make me happy. To pass the time I walked some of the trails and took pictures. That made the time go by faster. I didn't finish working until after 2 pm and that made my husband and I rearrange our plans for the afternoon and evening.

After I got home from work Saturday, I saw my sweetest day gift on the dinner room table. It was a bouquet of sunflowers and a card. A couple of years ago I told my husband that S.D. wasn't really a holiday, so we really don't buy each other gifts. The flowers were really pretty and now they are in a vase of water brightening up my dining room.

We then got in the car and drove to Toledo, Ohio. Our first stop was to the new Fallen Timbers mall outside of Maumee. It was really nice. Some of the stores/eateries weren't open yet, but there was still a great turnout at the mall. We walked around that mall for a half hour and drove back to Toledo. We stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond to find a toaster. We didn't like the ones that were in stock so we left without one. The next stop was to Franklin Park Mall. I bought some books at Borders with a gift certificate from my birthday. My husband bought shorts for both of us at Dick's Sporting Goods. We looked for toasters at the mall but didn't find any. After a couple more stops at Best Buy and a furniture store, we had dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Sunday morning I drove up near Lansing to visit my friend Kathy. I took photos of her and her family. It was great seeing them again. It is so hard to visit when they live so far away. I stayed at their house for two hours. When I got home I didn't do much. I downloaded my memory cards, took a nap, ran and watched Dexter on DVD. It was a busy but great weekend.

One of my favorite photos of Kathy

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin
General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson

Currently Reading: Diana, Sarah Bradford
Up Next: Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor

TV matters

This morning at work I glanced up at the TV to see "After the Onions Rings" in big letters across the screen. I knew that they were going to talk about The Sopranos. Since the TV is turned down in the newsroom because it annoys people, I had to find the link and read about it. I was lucky to find it in the New York Post. Sopranos creator David Chase said Tony lives! I read so many postings about the final episode, everyone thought Tony was killed. I didn't. I hoped that he was still alive in TV land. Today it is true. Maybe Chase will make a Sopranos movie down the road like Sex and the City. Who wouldn't want to see Tony and the gang five years from now?

The show that I have have been getting into is Showtime's Dexter. I loved Michael C. Hall in Six Feet Under and I love him in this show. Who doesn't love a funeral director and a lab technincan/serial killer? I recorded the season two opener with my DV-R and have been hooked since. Of course I had no clue what was going on, but I still loved the show. Through Netflix, I've watched Dexter season 1 through episode seven. I will finish the second DVD this afternoon, send it back and wait for the third disk of season 1, patiently. I know that the series is based from the book, Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. I usually don't read fiction, but I will be picking up this book and the rest of the series. I'm obsessed with TV!

Photo Credits: HBO, Yahoo TV & Showtime

Miles run in 2007

I did run after my soccer game last night. It was an easy two miles on the treadmill. I was hoping to run today and tomorrow, but I can't. Early this afternoon I have to drive to another soccer game which is about an hour away. So I will have to wait until Thursday for my next run. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. It has been a while since I ran outside. I would like to get in a long run outside before my upcoming 5 and 10K races.

Miles run through October 17:
2007: 450.2
2006: 386.9
2005: 280.2
2004: 234.4

Random things

It is supposed to rain all day. I'm not too excited about that. I have to photograph a district soccer game later this afternoon. I'll be the one holding an umbrella and taking pictures at the same time.

I'm hoping I'll be motivated to run after my soccer game. I wanted to wait until tomorrow to do my first run of the week, but I may have to photograph a game instead of having the afternoon off. It is either run later tonight or tomorrow afternoon during nap time. The good thing is if I run tonight I will pass 450 miles run for the year. My New Year's goal was to run 500 miles. I'm getting closer and I have two and a half months left in the year.

A couple of days ago I mailed in my race forms for two upcoming races. The first is a 5K that is going to be held in a cemetery in the evening. The cemetery is very hilly. It will be a challenging run. The second race is a 10K. For the last two weeks, I have been running 6 miles on my treadmill to prepare for this race. I really like this race but the last hill with less then a mile to go always gets me. My goal for this year is to run strong up the hill and continue that to the finish line.

Engagements and traffic

I had an engagement session with a fun couple yesterday, Casey and Matt. We met at a park in Taylor, Michigan. The engagement session started out dry, but it didn't stay that way for too long.

After we walked to our first location, the gazebo, it starting raining. You wouldn't know it, but the photo posted with this entry, they are getting wet. They were awesome and didn't complain once. I was also thankful they were both wearing dark colors. It helped hide the rain drops from being seen in the photos. For the rest of the session, it continued to rain off and on.

On the way home, I was going smoothly on I-94 West. Over by Metro Airport, my speed dropped from almost 80 miles per hour to 60. I thought there was a crash or a cop pulled someone over, so I waited patiently while it felt like we were crawling. After continuing on for a couple of miles, none of those listed above were the cause for the slowdown. Everyone just slowed down for no apparent reason.

About a mile away from my turnoff to US 23 South, I tried to get around a slow semi. I merged into the most right hand lane. I saw the US 23 exits in front of me. But then I realized it was the wrong US 23. The lane I was in was an exit only for 23 North. I wanted 23 South but I was blocked in. I turned on my blinker hoping the car behind the slow semi would let me in. A Saab was the car behind the semi. The woman driving the Saab didn't let me in. I was forced to take the wrong exit. Twenty minutes later, I was finally back on US 23 South and going in the right direction towards home.

When I arrived home I was so tired. I do not envy people that have to drive on the interstates everyday. My drive was 133 miles round trip and it wore me out. I had no energy the rest of the night. During dinner I couldn't stop yawning. By 8:30 pm I could hardly keep my eyes open. I went to bed at 8:45 pm. It was a good day except for the three hours I was stuck in my car driving.

Random things

Monday I watched The Next Iron Chef that I recorded from Sunday night. The chefs on the show are competing against each other to be named the fifth Iron Chef. All of the chefs chosen for the program are professional and very successful. I thought it would've been nice to see head judge Chef Tom Colicchio from Top Chef compete on this show. I know he is a chef thanks to Padma when she introduces all of the judges. I googled Tom and found out he is Chef/Owner of Craft Restaurants. As judge on Top Chef, he is always critiquing food, I would like to see him go head to head with some great chefs and see what he can make.

I photographed a college soccer game Wednesday afternoon. The temperature around game time was 50 degrees and it was windy. With that, I wore my winter coat and hat. After standing in the cold and wind for the first half, I went back to download the photos. People made comments about how bundled up I was. One person said, "She must be cold." You would be cold to if you had to stand outside for an hour photographing a soccer game.

After the game, I went home to run on the treadmill. Around 1.5 miles, my lunch made a surprise visit. I threw up in my mouth a little. It was nasty. For the rest of my run all I could taste was onion rings. Gross.

In a couple of hours, I have an engagement session. It is a very cloudy day, windy and 50 degrees. I hope the rain holds off until we are done.

Colors

Blue and Brown.

For a while now, I have been loving those colors. I see them everywhere and I think that they look good together. My husband is really not a fan of these colors. Especially brown. He dislikes brown because it is the color of his uniform for work.

Yesterday, he took me to Lowe's to pick out floor tiles, walls and a color scheme for the laundry room. After picking out the tiles and the wall boards, it was on to my favorite part: color. I went straight for blue and brown. I picked out nine color swatches of different blues and browns. I told him that I wanted a room in our house to be these colors. I don't know if I will win on the laundry room, but there is still the kitchen and the full bathroom that needs to be redone. I still have a 1 in 3 chance to have a room in my dream colors.

Weekend update

Saturday morning I photographed a cross country invitational. It was so hot and humid. I felt bad for the runners. One team that was there, all of the runners collapsed at the finished line. They all needed help from the volunteers to pick them up. Two people made comments to me saying it was like that team was trained to do that. I doubt that they were, but it was odd the only runners that collapsed were from one school.

One of the oddest things seen at the cross country invitational was two boys running to the finish line together. They were both neck and neck. One of the runners thought he could beat the other runner to the line by sliding head first. I wanted to tell him it wasn't baseball season and the finish line wasn't home plate. Come on who slides head first through the finish line at a cross country meet?

In speaking of hot and humid weather, a Michigan police officer died running the Chicago Marathon and another runner collapsed and died near the finish line at the Pentagon during the Army-Ten Miler in Arlington, VA.

I decided over the weekend I will train for the 2008 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Half Marathon. I have over a year to get ready for this race. I can do it.

Watch your step

I saw an older man stumbling around on a sidewalk in downtown. I noticed him while waiting at a stoplight. I thought he tripped over something on the sidewalk. He regained his balance thanks to a wall of a building. Once he got his balance he tried to walk again. This time he was stumbling all over. This guy just didn't trip, he was drunk. He was drunk at 7 pm on a Thursday night. My question is who gets staggering drunk around 7 pm on a Thursday evening? Apparently that guy.

Random things

I've been watching America's Next Top Model regularly since Cycle 4. I have caught the first three cycles thanks to marathons on VH1 and MTV. Every season has a bad girl. This cycle it is Bianca. I always hope for them to leave early but they never do. Last night Bianca was in the bottom two. Of course she got a second chance and someone else was sent home. It always seems like the bad girl always escapes elimination until the final 5. The last couple of seasons that was the way with Renee, Melrose, Jade, Bre and Keenyah. They all made it overseas to different countries. The bad girls probably get to stay to create drama and keep the show interesting. I'll admit it does keep the show entertaining.

Last night was the live finale of Top Chef. I haven't watched it yet, but I already read the recap this morning. I know Hung won. I really liked Casey and Dale, but I had a feeling that Hung would probably win due to his technique. This season why did they need to have three finalists instead of two? Whatever. I'll be back for Top Chef 4.

***SPOILER ALERT - Sex and the City***
Earlier this week, I read on Page Six of the New York Post that Sex and the City was going to be filming at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Carrie and Big are getting married. Then this morning I saw the pictures. SJP looks lovely in her dress, but what is with the feathers? Come on where are the photos of Chris Noth?

Krista still needs help raising money to run a marathon with Team in Training. Please donate to a worthy cause.

I've been tagged

The rules:

1. Post these rules before you give you the facts.
2. List eight random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) someone and list their name (linking to their page).
4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Eight random things about me.

1. I'm the youngest of seven children. All of our first names start with D.

2. I grew up on a hog farm. My brothers, sisters and I showed hogs at the county fair until we were all 18. In 1995 my hog was Reserve Grand Champion. It sold at auction for over $1000.

3. I love the smell of coffee, but I hate the taste. Once I was getting my car fixed and the auto shop made a fresh pot. It smelled really good so I poured myself a cup. It was gross and I threw it away. It could have been gross because it was coffee in a auto shop.

4. I eat Applebee's nachos at least once a week.

5. Most of my friends drank during college. I didn't. My first drink was on my 21st birthday.

6. During the summer I always wear my watch when I'm outside. I like the "watch line" I get on my left wrist to see how tan I am.

7. I am a clean freak. Everything around me has to be clean and in order. If is not, I straighten it up. Sometimes when talking to a co-worker I'll start cleaning her desk. I just can't stand to look at filth.

8. In college I didn't pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts because I was afraid to defend my work in front of the art professors.

I tag BCal, Kris and Erin.

Dog in the window

Just before 7 pm this evening, someone knocked on my front door. I wasn't expecting any company so I walked into my bedroom to look out the window. I saw a SUV parked in front of my house. Whoever was at the door kept knocking. I just finished taking a shower, so I had to make myself decent to answer the door.

I walked downstairs and opened the front door. It was a man and a woman in their early 20s. They said they were from Company X and they are going to be opening a office in town. After this I stopped listening because my two German Shepherds were knocking down their gate that locks them in the kitchen. When I heard the gate fall down, I stepped onto the porch with them and shut the door. She continued on with her spiel. Next thing you know my 120 pound German shepherd Blitzkrieg was standing on the window sill barking. The two people on my porch backed up because they were frightened of my barking dog. I told them that my dog doesn't like visitors. With that she asked when would be a better time to come back. I told her tomorrow. I really wanted to tell her not to come back, but I wanted to be nice. When they come back tomorrow they will be talking with my husband. I'm sure he will shut the door faster then I did.

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin

Currently Reading: General Patton: A Soldier's Life, Stanley P. Hirshson
Up Next: A trip to the library

Random things

After two weeks of waiting, AMC had a new Mad Men on last night. I recorded the show with my DV-R, but haven't watched it yet. Like the obsessive person that I am, I read the episode recap this morning. I guess that I like knowing what happens on the show before watching it. To others it may spoil the show, I don't think it does. Since I don't know all of the characters name on the show, its nice to know who is doing what.

Last Friday, I thought Notre Dame was hosting the Notre Dame Invitational. Saturday morning I checked their site for results, none were found. I checked the local college, Siena Heights, site because the men's cross country team was scheduled to run there. Nothing. I couldn't understand why there weren't any results anywhere. Its like it never happened. Earlier this week, I was still checking the site hoping for something. Monday afternoon a story was written saying 15 ranked teams were going to be competing in this invitational. That is when I checked their schedule. The meet is being run today. I guess I better start reading things better. I will be checking the results later tonight. I would like to see the outcome of the Siena Heights men team and especially the women's blue race. I wrote about this before that I'm a fan of the University of Michigan's women's team and right now they are ranked No. 2 in the polls. Also I want to see how Notre Dame's freshman Marissa Treece will do. I saw her run in the Michigan cross country division 4 finals three times and win all three times. I wonder how she will do against many ranked teams?

While driving around town yesterday, I saw things on three different vehicles that were similar: bullet hole stickers. I think that they look ridiculous, but that is my opinion. Some people like them and have them all over their vehicle. I found a website that said that bullet hole stickers was the world's hottest auto trend. If it so hot, why is my car without them?

This is Alumni Weekend at my college, Siena Heights University. There is only one event that I participate in is the 5K. The Saints Run starts at 9 am tomorrow. It should be a bit chilly, but otherwise sunny. This is my first race since July and I hope to improve my time from last year's run.

Oops, I did it again

While traveling through downtown yesterday in my car on the way to an assignment, I made a left turn and squealed my tires. Normally that is not a big deal, unless you do it in front of a cop who is waiting at the stop light.

When the cop's light turned green, he got in close behind me. The light we were both waiting at turned green and the cop followed for a minute, then decided to turn on his overheads. I quickly found a vacant parking lot and pulled over. Even before the cop was out of his car, I was already getting my license, registration and insurance ready. I rolled down my window and the cop walked up. He asked me where I was going? I told him I was going to a volleyball game at the school down the road. He then asked for my license, registration and insurance. When I found my current insurance card, I gave it to him. He asked me why I thought I got pulled over. I honestly didn't know. He said I squealed my tires when making the left turn off of Main Street. I told him that I didn't hear it, which I didn't because my music was up too loud. Before he went back to his car to run my information, he asked if I had a good driving record. I told him I did.

At this time, my phone vibrated. I answered the two-way, it was my husband. He heard my name on the scanner and asked what I did. I told him that the officer said I squealed my tires in downtown. My husband asked if he was writing me a ticket. I looked in my rear view mirror and said he was running my information. I saw the officer getting ready to get out of his car so I told my husband I had to go. The officer comes back to my window and hands back my license, registration and insurance. He told me to slow down and went back to his car.

Three times I have been pulled over. Two times for speeding and once for squealing my tires. I have been fortunate so far not to receive any tickets. I hope to continue the streak. Knock on wood.

Why can't I hear the sweet, sweet music?

Last week, I thought it would be a good idea to start taking my headphones home with me from work. Every morning when I work I listen to music to help keep me sane. If I didn't have my music, I would be forced listen to the police scanner, look at the TV and everyone else's conversations at normal tones. I always have my music down low enough to actually hear the scanner and everyone's conversations. We can't hear the TV because the volume is always low.

The day after I took my headphones home, I took them out of my photo bag. They looked like they survived the trip because they weren't broken in half. I plugged them in and stuck in a CD in the tower and waited for the itunes to come up. When it did, I pressed play. The music was great, until the singing started. I could barely hear George Strait singing. In both ears I could hear the music just fine. Only on the left side could I hear the singing, just barely. What words I did hear, it sounded like someone was playing the music down the hall with the door closed. That made me sad.

Monday morning I put a CD in and started itunes. This time I could hear only the music. That really made me angry. Since I couldn't hear the words, it was a waste of time. I found another pair of headphones in my drawer and used those the rest of the morning. These headphones were worst. The good part was I could hear the music and the singing, the bad part was these headphones had the earpieces that went in your ear. These aren't the nice earpieces that come with ipods, these earpieces were huge and really didn't fit in my ear. After five minutes of having them in my ear, I had to take them off. They were hurting my ear and giving me a headache. I kept that up all morning. I probably shouldn't have, but I had to listen to music.

After using the headphones from hell yesterday, I went back to my old pair. Before putting them on, I twisted them in hopes of making the left side work. A half hour or so passed and out of nowhere I heard singing out of the left side. It was awesome. The joy didn't last long. I moved and the sound went away. For the rest of the morning, I was moving my head constantly to get my headphones to work properly. One second the sound would be back, the next it was the music down the hall again. I finally gave up and accepted that I need to buy new headphones. When I do buy them, they will not go in my camera bag without a protective case. I don't need to bust a move at my desk just to listen to tunes.

Weekend update

While out for a 4 mile run Saturday morning, I found $10. It was laying in the street near a curb. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. That found money bought me my dinner later that night. What did I get? Nachos, of course. The last time I found money it was way back in elementary. I found $20 in the hallway of a school during a boys varsity basketball game. It will probably be another 20+ years before I find anymore money.

Sunday morning, I drove down to Toledo, Ohio to meet a couple for an engagement session. We meet at Toledo Botanical Garden. What a beautiful place! If I didn't have to return home soon after I would have loved to stay and taken photos for myself. So many flowers and gardens to look at.

Over the weekend, my DVR was busy. I will spend a good chuck of time this afternoon before my evening sports assignment catching up on all of the TV shows and movies that were taped. First I have to finish watching Psycho that was taped Saturday night on AMC.

Random things

Oh my gosh! I'm such a dork. All morning and afternoon, I've been checking TV websites for an episode recap of one of my new favorite shows, Mad Men. There isn't one. After loading a picture on my photo blog this morning, I went downstairs to watch last night's episode on the DVR. I went to watch it but the taping was interrupted and only recorded a minute. That frustrated me more. I finally went to AMC's website and looked up the episodes. I just saw that the next episode, Episode 10: The Long Weekend airs September 27 which is next week. They didn't have a new show this week. So I have been checking these TV sites all day. No wonder I never found a recap.

This afternoon, we taught our two German Shepherds, Blitzkrieg and Kelly to walk up and down the basement stairs. For some reason they have no problems walking/running up and down the stairs from the first and second floors of our home, but they dislike the basement steps. Since they were puppies, they have always been afraid to walk down into the basement. My husband first got Kelly to come downstairs. Her legs were shaking and she was scared. When she was down in the basement, she stayed low to the ground and was sniffing everything. We got her to walk back upstairs. She was unsure and her back legs were shaking. But she made it up. The next time, she walked down and up all by herself. Blitzkrieg was a different story. We had to put him on his leash. He was so scared to come down the stairs. We he made it down the stairs, he acted just like Kelly did. Stayed low to the ground and sniffed everything. He put his paws on the stairs to go back up. He climbed up two steps, stopped and turned around. With some help he made it upstairs. Kelly now walks up and down the steps with no problems. Blitzkrieg is still reluctant. If someone is walking with him he will go down. He is still chicken and won't do it alone.

Miles run in 2007

I had the evening off yesterday, I planned to go on a nice run. I ended up running 5 miles. It was not a good run. It was hot outside, my right knee started to hurt during the run and two girls sitting on their porch said "Hey Baby" to me. When I passed by them without even looking at them. The girl who said hey went on to say, "You're not interested in girls?" Her little buddy thought that was funny. Why do people have to say something when you run by? Is it people in this town or is it all over?

Anyhoo. With the 5 mile run, that put me over 400 miles run this year. Only 98 more miles to hit my goal of 500 miles run for the year 2007.

Miles run through September 20:
2007: 402.0
2006: 353.5
2005: 243.1
2004: 214.5

One ends, another begins

Last night was the final episode for Big Brother 8. Since it was on at 9 pm EST, I didn't watch it. I recorded the show on my DV-R. I'm not one to wait until I watch the show to find out what happened. I had to know immediately who won when I woke up this morning. I went to my favorite spoilers website and found out Dick was named the winner of Big Brother 8. I was pleased with the vote. I'm excited that the show is over for the summer. For the past three months, I have been visiting spoiler Internet sites and reading what was going on in the house thanks to the live feeds that others subscribed to. I was a maniac. I was constantly checking these sites to see what the house guests were doing next. I don't know why this summer was the one that I decided to read all the spoilers. I never have in the past seven seasons. I guess that will free up my afternoons now.

Tonight starts a new cycle of America's Next Top Model. I have only started watching this show at cycle four, but thanks to the marathons on VH1 and MTV, I have seen all eight cycles. For this show there are no spoiler websites. Even though I will always try to watch the new episodes, the next morning I will be on TV websites reading the recaps. I'm such a geek.

Weekend update

Friday was the start of my 10 year high school reunion. The class met at the football game and mingled. I happened to be photographing the game for work, so when I was finished at half time I joined my classmates for a while. I found out that everyone was meeting after the game to eat dinner.

After leaving work and letting my dogs outside, I drove to the restaurant. I found our table and it was packed. There were about 22 of us altogether. Many of my classmates brought there spouse, my husband was unable to attend due to work. Sitting next to me was a guy who graduated a year behind me. He was friends with mostly everyone in our class. He decided it would be fun to throw ice cubes at another classmate a couple of tables down. He didn't have any ice cubes, so I gave him some. After the ice cubes, he took my lemon and threw it down. My classmate was annoyed and threw it back. Unfortunately it hit me instead of his target, class of 1998 boy. He apologized to me and said he wanted it to hit '98 boy. The waitress came back to our table and '98 boy ordered a glass of ice. When he received it, he threw more ice. Eventually he stopped. About 11:45 pm, we left the restaurant and headed to the bar.

The first bar we stopped at was packed. We decided to go to another bar around the corner. This bar hardly had anyone in it so we found a table easily. The dinner and the bar was fun. It was great catching up with everyone. Finding out that they were married, where they were living, what their job was. The highlight of the night is when Class of 98 boy mooned us from the bar. Around 1:30 am, most of us called it a night. A lot of people said it was past their bedtime. I knew it was past mine because I had to work Saturday morning, early.

Early Saturday morning I set my alarm clock for 7:20 am because my volleyball tournament was supposed to start at 8:30 am. I get to the school at 8:20 am and no one is on the volleyball courts. Come to find out the tournament didn't start until 9 am. That made me angry. I could have slept a bit longer.

Around 5 pm I got in my car and drove to the restaurant for dinner. After everyone showed up there were over 30 of us in attendance. Mostly everyone brought their spouse with them. My husband couldn't attend again due to work. Dinner was great and I sat with a couple of my friends from high school. I was disappointed that one of my good friends was a no-show for both days. I really wanted to see her and catch up.

After dinner and a lot drinking by other people, we walked across the street to the party store. I picked up a six pack of Smirnoff Wild Grape and everyone else got 24 packs of beer. The cashier made a comment about me wearing my winter coat. I told her it was supposed to be 40 degrees out later that night. We piled into our cars and drove to the host's house for a bonfire. The bonfire was fun, but cold. I actually wore a sweater and my winter coat. I didn't know I would be sitting outside for a couple of hours, but I'm glad I put those on. After talking to to most of my classmates near the bonfire and having one Smirnoff, I decided it was time to go home. It was after 10:30 pm and I was getting tired. I said goodbye to my two friends and left.

I loved my 10 year reunion. Some classmates didn't show up because they said that they have been trying to forget high school. I guess that they are entitled to their own opinion. But I think everyone who showed up had a good time. I would have really liked some more time to visit with some friends that don't live in the area anymore. But I'm glad that I did get to talk with them even though it was for a short time. Hopefully the 20 year reunion will be just as fun.

What?

What happened to Postsecret? Who is nicole?

EDIT: According to Postsecret, Blogger locked them. Blogger thought that they were a spam blog.

Random things

Wednesday and Thursday I ran outside back to back days. Wednesday I ran 5 miles and felt really good. Thursday I ran 4 miles and my legs were extremely tired. During my 5 mile run, I was forced to stop twice at crosswalks to allow traffic to pass by. Thursday I stopped several times on my own giving my legs a break. I don't know if this made my 4 mile run any better, but someone did whistle at me.

After thinking I was going to die on my 4 mile run, I had to get ready for my anniversary dinner with my husband. My husband made reservations for a 7:30 pm dinner. This was clearly the best dinner I have eaten all year. Before any of our food was ready, our server brought us out an amuse bouche, a bite-sized morsel served before the first course of a meal. The only reason I knew what a amuse bouche was from watching Top Chef. I started the meal off with a tossed apple-buttermilk ranch salad and for dinner I ate char crusted beef tenderloin with a forest mushroom-roasted shallot timbale with goat cheese and green beans. My husband had a Charleston crab cake and for dinner braised short ribs with wasabi whipped potatoes, asian vegetable and fried rice noodles. For dessert we shared a chocolate lava cake. The meal was wonderful, the service was wonderful and the evening was wonderful.

Even though we ate our anniversary dinner last night, still doesn't mean I have bought my husband a gift yet. I'm probably going to buy it before work tonight or after work tomorrow morning. Its not that exciting, so I'm not going to list it here.

About a week ago, I received a birthday card from my husband's parents. Along with the birthday card was a gift certificate to the running store in town. I wanted to find a nice running jacket, so I stopped by this morning. I saw one that I wanted and debated on whether I wanted to buy it or save my money for my husband's anniversary gift. I told the owner I would pass on it and wait for another shipment of jackets in a month. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted the jacket I looked at. Later this afternoon, I went back to the store and bought the jacket. The owner was joking with me and said is this your anniversary gift to your husband? I said it was like an anniversary gift to myself.

One day left before my 10-year high school reunion dinner. I'm hoping it will be fun.

Books read in 2007

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford
John Wayne's America, Garry Wills

Currently Reading: Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen
Up Next: Henry Ford and the Jews, Neil Baldwin

Not like we need it now

The temperature outside is 57 degrees. The high today is only supposed to reach 66 degrees. This is important because as I type my husband and I are having our air conditioning installed. We lived in our house without it for five years. Five years, that is long enough. How did I go 21 years living at home without it? After getting a taste of it from our first apartment, we decided it was time to have one installed.

Sure the hot days of summer are way behind us and we probably won't even turn it on for the rest of this year. But next year when it is hot and humid outside, we can relax in the cool air coming from the air conditioning. Now we don't have to have three fans working at the same time in one room. The dogs won't be sitting in front of the fans blocking the breeze. It should be nice and cool. I bet the dogs would agree.

That's a fine piece of wood

Wood?

Wood.

Saturday is my 6th Wedding Anniversary and I'm looking for gift ideas. I looked up anniversary gift ideas on the Internet and I found a site that lists the traditional and modern gifts for each anniversary. On the site they have a listing for the 100th Wedding Anniversary gift. It is a 10K Diamond. Has any couple made it to their 100th wedding anniversary? Anyhoo.

What I care about is the 6th wedding anniversary because it is less then a week away. The traditional gifts for this special occasion is candy or iron. The modern gift of the sixth anniversary is wood. Most people will think dirty thoughts on the modern gift. I thought of it myself, but I'm planning on buying a gift from a store. Some suggestions from the website is a pine scented candle, wood furniture, wood carving, woody fragrances, firewood or a bonsai plant. I don't see myself buying any of these items. A candle? I think we have enough of them in the house, besides a candle as an anniversary gift? CHEAP! We don't need anymore furniture. We don't have a fireplace and I don't need my husband to smell like the woods.

I keep asking my husband what he would like. He answers, "I don't know." The sad thing is that I answer the same way. I know what I would like, but they are expensive. I would like a new Nikon digital camera and a laptop. I know that I would never receive those as gifts. Those are things that I have to buy myself.

I'll keep looking around the Internet for ideas. Hopefully I find something soon that I know he will like. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Those could be better then mine.

Weekend update

Not all University of Michigan teams got hammered this weekend like the football team. Saturday the Michigan women's cross country team had seven runners place in the top 10 at the Indiana Open in Bloomington, Indiana. Michigan's Erin Webster was the winner of the race.

After watching Michigan lose to Oregon, I was upset again when Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s engine blew with six laps to go at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 in Richmond, Virginia. With that DNF, Junior finished 198 points behind Kevin Harvick for the final spot in the Top 12 and is locked out of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. I hope he can get a win before the season is over, but if not, I hope he does better next season with his new team.

While Junior's engine was blowing up, I created a slideshow from Brian & Theresé's reception on September 1. To see it, go here.

It must be a miracle! The Detroit Lions defeated Oakland Raiders Sunday 36-21. My favorite player Jason Hanson had three field goals good from 46, 46 & 23 yards. Next week the Lions play Minnesota at home. Let's see if they can do it again next week.

I agree with Daniele, Zach was acting smug when she was talking to him in the Head of Household room. He has been a floater all season, not taking sides. I don't want him to win. I want a Donato to win. Dick and Daniele have been playing the game best all summer. I can't wait until Daniele uses the Power of Veto on herself Tuesday and sends Jameka home. Then its down to the final three.

Something new

I bought a slideshow a couple of days ago. I wanted it so I can create nice slideshows for clients. After two days of trying to get it loaded, I finally did this morning. To see my first slideshow from Dan and Laura's wedding, go to Deloris Clark-Osborne Photography and select blog or just go here.

Weekend update

Friday, I didn't drive to Dexter to watch the University of Michigan cross country teams run in the Wolverine Open. I decided to stay at home to do work. I really didn't do work. I took a nap, ran 3 miles, ate nachos, read and watched TV. That was a productive day.

Saturday morning I went to work for an hour and a half. After work, I came home and ran 3 miles on my treadmill. Since I couldn't see Michigan lose to Appalachian State and I really didn't care about the other football games on TV, I took a nap before going to photograph a wedding reception. The couple got married earlier in the week down at the Cayman Islands and waited until they got back for the reception. The hors d'oeuvres, dinner, cake and chocolate treat were wonderful. I did feel bad for the bride. Before their first dance, one of her bridesmaids was carrying a glass of red wine. She walked around a corner and collided with the groom. The wine from her glass ended up on the bride's dress. Not just one spot. All down the front of her dress.

Sunday I watched the final day of IAAF World Championships in track and field from Osaka, Japan. I actually watched all nine days of competition on NBC and VS and it was awesome. The United States won the most medals with 26, 14 of them were gold. Russia came in second with 16 medals. The races that I was most interested in was the 1500 and 5000 meter run. Bernard Lagat from Arizona became the first man to win both the 1500 and 5000 at the World Championships. He was also the first American to ever win a medal in the 5000. Besides watching track, running 4 miles and reading, I actually did work on my computer like I wanted to all weekend. I'm designing a wedding album for a couple and I completed six pages in just over an hour. Today I want to keep working on the album and maybe finish it up tomorrow.

Books read in 2007

Instead of working on my computer this weekend, I was on my couch finishing another book. I eventually got around to working, only after my 4 mile run this afternoon.

A Man of Faith, David Aikman
Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris
All of the President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III
Jack: A Life Like No Other, Geoffrey Perret
Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate, Bob Woodward
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson
The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Rother
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
Cultural Warrior, Bill O'Reilly
Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, Lee Server
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, Marvin Kitman
Clint Eastwood, Richard Schickel
Notorious, Donald Spoto
Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Leaming
Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes, Donald L. Barlett
Diana, Andrew Morton
Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, Barbara Leaming
Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend, David Shipman
Shadows of a Princess, P.D. Jephson
Just Jackie, Edward Kline
Leni, Steven Bach
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Graham McCann
Princess Grace, Sarah Bradford

Currently Reading: John Wayne's America, Garry Wills
Up Next: Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen