Day 42

Not much exciting going on today.  I had grand plans to get a bunch of stuff done, including some scrapbooking, but reality was a lot different.  I spent most of the morning taking a friend to a doctor’s appointment, then got home only to hop in the car again to go out to lunch with Crockett.  It was his first outing post-op and it was great.  He’s doing VERY well and says that the pain is less now than at when it was at its worst just after the injury. 

The afternoon went by quickly as well.  Once we got home from lunch, I did laundry and spent some time cleaning my craft room, putting away some things from my scrapbook retreat a few weekends ago.  LilCrockett arrived home on the bus not long after (GothGirl rode home with a friend to go to the movies) and I took him to get a much-needed haircut.

Upon getting home, I pulled out my sewing machine to start on  some misc. projects: repairing a few tears, hemming a few pants, and modifying a curtain.  Thus, today’s photo. 

Editing: increase exposure and brightness in ACR

• f/2.8     
• 1/30 sec
• 400 ISO
• 28mm

And now for a shot of Crockett’s surgery scars for those of you (family) that are curious.  If you don’t want to see it, don’t scroll down.  Note: there is no blood, but you will see stiches.

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Just above the surgical sites, you’ll notice a faint pen marking.  Prior to surgery, they had Crockett mark the injured knee with the surgeon’s initials as a safety measure.  This ensures that the surgery is performed on the correct knee by the correct doctor.  Crockett is quite a hairy guy, so this is the first time I’ve seen so much bare skin on him!

SOOC camera shot, no editing

• f/2.8
• 1/400 sec
• 400 ISO
• 44mm

Day 41

I’m cheating a bit today simply because I didn’t take any photos.  I spent the day taking care of Crockett (he’s doing REALLY well following his surgery yesterday), cleaning, working on a digital scrapbook, grocery shopping, etc.  There wouldn’t have been much that was worth photographing.  So, I’m going to post a few photos from earlier this month. 

First, a few photos of LilCrockett eating snow ice cream.  I remember eating this as a kid and I loved it and my boy is no different.

Editing: cropping & curves adjustment in Photoshop

• f/4
• 1/60 sec
• 400 ISO
• 28mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that GothGirl is not a fan of snow ice cream, so I didn’t get any pictures of her.  This was actually quite shocking as she has a big sweet tooth like me.  Oh well.  But I did have something cute to share about her.

This is GothGirls’s new dry erase board.  She loves to write and stay organized, so it was no surprise to see the notes to herself on the board.  But I had to smile when I read the one about Friday the 28th.  It was so sweet to see that she was sad I was leaving for the weekend to go scrapbooking.  Obviously I know she loves me, but she’s getting to the age where she doesn’t display or talk about her affection very often.  So, this was just so sweet to see.  Before I left for my trip, I made sure to leave her a few notes as well (mine are the ones that aren’t boxed in) while she was still at school.  Who doesn’t love getting a special note?!!

Editing: increase exposure in ACR

• f/4.5
• 1/100 sec
• 400 ISO
• 38mm

Day 40

Unfortunately today’s post is injury-related. 

I picked up the kids from AfterCare last night and one of the student teachers came over to tell me that LilCrockett had fallen over a bench and hurt his lip.  He claims that someone pushed him down, but who knows.  He’s at an age where his stories are not always reliable.  Besides a scrape on his chin, a small section of his bottom lip was busted (it’s hard to see in the picture) and the little flap of skin that attaches his top lip and gums was mangled.  I’m not sure if it’s from him biting it or just hitting it on the bench.  Surprisingly, LilCrockett didn’t complain much about it except for when it came time to eat.  Likely because Brian told him, “chicks dig scars!”.  Here’s LilCrockett sporting a band-aid on his chin. 

Editing: cropping & adjustments in ACR, the pioneer woman boost action

• f/2.8
• 1/30 sec
• 400 ISO
• 28mm

Last October, Crockett injured his knee.  At first he thought it was just bruised or something; but when it failed to heal after a month or so, he knew it was time to see the doctor.  It turns out that he actually had torn cartilage and it wasn’t going to heal on its own. 

So today, he had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair it.  Amazingly, the outpatient procedure only took 15-20 minutes.  We were home within 2 hours of them taking him back to prep him for surgery.  It wasn’t all rosy though as he was very groggy from the anesthesia (still is a little even 7 hours later) and the pain has yet to really hit.  Plus, he has to begin putting weight on that leg starting tomorrow.  Hopefully his recovery will be quick and relatively pain-free.  In the meantime, I’ll be here helping him as much as I can.  Hate seeing my sweetie in pain. 

Editing: cropping & adjustments in ACR

• f/2.8
• 1/100 sec
• 400 ISO
• 28mm    

Day 39

This is the view I see most weekdays at work.  Love my large computer monitor, which is a necessity with the geographic information system (gis) software I use for mapping.  Most of us work out of cubicles, but I’m fortunate to have one on the end of the aisle right next to the windows (our building is mostly glass), so there is plenty of natural light.  The dragonfly artwork is a new addition to my space.  I purchased it from a glass artist at a local art fair about 6 years ago for GothGirl’s room.  She has long since outgrown dragonflies and butterflies, so I brought the piece into my office to brighten it up a bit.  I love that the dragonfly is made from pieced glass and that there are even glass pieces attached to the frame.  It makes me happy when I look at it!

Obviously there is more to my cubicle than just this view, but my desk is a bit cluttered at the moment and there’s not much interesting to look at anyway.  Just many stacks of paper, reports, & such as well as some of the kids’ artwork.

Editing: white balance adjustment & exposure increase in ACR

• f/2.8
• 1/250 sec
• 400 ISO
• 28mm

Day 38

The kids were wrapping up their Valentine cards tonight when  GothGirl called me into the dining room.  I had set an empty casserole dish on the table temporarily and Kenai made himself right at home.  I think I mentioned before that he loves to lay in strange places: on top of lumpy bags, inside boxes & containers that are a tad too small, on top of loose paper, and even on top of our hard metal cable box (it’s warm!).

Editing: increase exposure & brightness in ACR, slight sharpening

• f/3.2
• 1/15 sec
• 800 ISO
• 37mm

This shot was taken on Jan. 26th, but thought you’d like to see him in action lounging on the cable box.  Pretty darn cute, huh?!!

SOCC shot, no editing

• f/4
• 1/25 sec
• 400 ISO
• 50mm

Day 37

Today was Superbowl Sunday; but since the game wasn’t until evening, we tried to get some other things done beforehand.  I spent most of the day getting our tax documents ready and going through tons of old paperwork.  Meanwhile, the kids sat down to “address” their class Valentine cards, with GothGirl keeping an eye on LilCrockett.  I got some great photos of the kids.  In particular, I love the last close-up photo.  Not only does it show LilCrockett’s cute little hands, but his chicken-scratch hand-writing too. 

SOOC shots, no editing

• f/5
• 1/80 –1/100 sec
• 800 ISO
• 28mm

LilCrockett and Crockett all decked out in Packers jerseys.  One of our friends is a big Packers fan, so it’s only natural that my two have increased their love for the team as well.  LilCrockett’s face and pants are dirty from playing with a couple of friends.  Of course I realized this after I took the photo.  Ah well, boys will be boys!  We were pretty excited that the Packers won the SuperBowl.  Too bad LilCrockett was already asleep by then…..we’ll have to tell him first thing in the morning. 

Editing: increase exposure in ACR

• f/6.3
• 1/60 sec
• 200 ISO     
• 32mm

Day 36

GothGirl signed up to play volleyball at a local gym and today was her first practice.  She was a little nervous beforehand because 1) she wasn’t sure if she would know anyone on the team other than one person, and 2) she’s never played in an actual volleyball league before (though she did take a volleyball camp at school for a few weeks last year).  Practice went great.  It turns out that 3 of the girls on her team go to her school.  The coach worked them pretty hard, which is a good thing since there are only 2 practices before they start actual games. 

I took quite a few photos of practice, but this one was my favorite action shot of GothGirl.  She is normally not very coordinated (I can say that because she takes after me), but she did really well.  I look forward to seeing how she improves in the next few weeks. 

Editing: increase exposure in ACR

• f/4
• 1/200 sec
• 800 ISO
• 50mm