Summertime and the livin' is easy (and the bloggin' is lazy...)

Oh my word sometimes I hate technology...I spent 45 mins earlier this afternoon writing out this blog post and then when I hit Publish, an error came up and I lost it all!! Turns out it wasn't autosaving either. Eventually I'll smarten up and either switch to Typepad or write out my posts in notepad (like I'm doing now), and then copy it all over, that way I'll have it if something stupid happens like this again. Ugh. Anyway...

So I've been meaning to blog all week, I don't know how many times I said to myself that I needed to blog, but every time I sat down something either came up or I lost my motivation completely. I can't wait for the day when I'll be able to just talk to the computer and it will write out all my blog posts, and format them, and upload the appropriate pics to go with it, haha...but until then, here is a (somewhat) abbreviated verion of what's going on around here. Since I can't think of all the little mini posts I meant to write, I'll just go ahead and write out random points, pêle mêle style.

*Things have been going great overall around here, the summer just seems to be passing us by in some sort of blur, I seriously can't believe it's almost August! We survived the first heat wave (barely), and now we're waiting for the second. I've been enjoying any rainy and cool day I can get, but so far there haven't been too too many. There are no complaints from me this year about the summer weather, it's been good! I still can't wait for fall though...

*In exactly one month from today I will be flying across the country with the bébé to British Columbia to see my friend Heather get married! It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time (exciting to see my friend after a year and a half apart, nerve-wracking to fly alone with a 6 month old...) To those who have travelled with infants before, what are you tips? What to bring, what to do, how to handle strangers giving your pity/disgust looks?

*I'm not sure what we are filling our days with that is making time go by so quickly, our usual routine involves staying at home most days with a few occasional outing thrown in here and there. And yet, the past month I've felt quite busy and tired...I think it's all the extra "non mama" stuff that I'm doing, mainly photography and running.

*Speaking of photography, things are going great! For the past 6-8 weeks or so, I've had at least one shoot a week, and a couple of weeks I've had 2 sessions a week (which is my self imposed maximum at this point). I've been having a lot of fun and people so far have responded positively, so it's been really good. I'm still determined to learn from each shoot and try to improve with each shoot, because I know I'm still a LOOOONG way away from being where I want to be. But I'm discovering what I like and don't like, my 'style', my strengths and weaknesses, so these early days are still quite important for me. I'll try to blog more about this soon :)

*As for my other 'hobby', running...ugh. I'm still currently training for a 4 person marathon relay in October with 3 friends, and while I do enjoy the social aspect of getting out of the house, the running itself I could totally do without! I feel good while I'm doing it, but every second before and after are just terrible it seems. I also think that it's just a lot for me to take on at this point; we train together twice a week and then have 2 homework runs that we have to do on our own, so it's 4 days a week, which is a lot once you tack on a shoot or two, I'm out almost every evening. But I said I would be a part of the team so I will continue, but I'm really not sure if running will be my main source of exercise anymore, I need something new. But what?

*Creatively, I've gotten a few things done this past month, the most important being my vacation photobook and my A Week in the Life album. That's right, I'm done the album! I finished it last night, I only have one thing left to do (if I want, the inside of the album itself could be lined with cardstock...) I took pics of the album yesterday but didn't upload them yet, I hope to blog about it soon. I'm really happy that these 2 major projects are done, now I can get back to regular scrapping, I've missed it!

*Victor is doing really well, I can't believe that in a few days he will be 5 months old! I'll do a proper post on him with his monthly update, but so far he just keeps getting better and better every month, but at the same time I'm really starting to notice how old and big he is getting, and I'm starting to miss the tiny little baby he used to be (it had to happen at some point I guess!)

*Last Saturday we went to my sister's for the afternoon to hang out in her backyard. They have such a nice set up out there; there is a river that runs along the back part of their property, and there is a little beach down off the yard, under the shade of the trees, it's the perfect spot to put a few chairs and enjoy the water. They set up a hammock and a little raft to float in, it was just perfect. Victor enjoyed swinging in the hammock and then taking a snooze down on the bank of the river (in a laundry basket no less!), Dan and Steve enjoyed playing guitar, and I enjoyed taking some pics.

Here are a few (please excuse the quality on some, I've been inspired by Kara to shoot all my at-home pics in Manual mode from now on, I really need to get the hang of it!)

      

*Daphné also got her 10 little babies last week, they are sooo cute (though we can't get too attached to them, they are Meat Kings and not egg layers, after all...) She's got her own little hobby farm out there, it's so cool!

Well that's all for now, I'm sure there's more but like I said above, there are several posts I want to write out soon, including some online lovelies I've been eyeing lately, Victor's 5 month update and my A Week in the Life album, so hopefully I get the chance...

Dan is heading off to his high school reunion tomorrow (10 years, eek!), so while he's off doing that I'll be heading to my friend's house to have a little kiddie pool party (yay!) Then next week my sister and I (and Victor of course) may be going to our grand mama's house to visit for a few days, so I may not be around for a bit, but I hope to get back soon, I really hate it when my mind piles up with back-logged blog posts (yes, sometimes I think in terms of blog posts, after nearly 4 years that's just the way it is!)

I hope you all have a great, sunny and happy weekend. Any big plans?
G.