Snapped

Here are a few pictures I've taken with my new camera so far. Nothing too amazing, but hey I'm still learning. I especially love the one of Mack. He makes a much better model than the cat. He doesn't try to lick my lens if I get to close to him (at least he hasn't tried it yet.)

No Time to Post

I have been so busy lately. Its great. I was actually asked to produce a photo shoot for a New York based photographer (Shannon Fagan) who will be shooting in Utah in a week for Image Source. This is such a great opportunity for me, and I'm trying to do my best. Wish me luck!

He's Home - Finally

My darling husband is finally home. It really is nice having him back, especially since I sleep much better when he's around. I slept so soundly last night and woke up a completely different person this morning because of it.

He brought me a little gift while he was in Seattle that I thought was priceless and needed sharing.

Mack handed me a small paper bag while we were waiting at the luggage carousel. I looked inside and there was a little book, and all I saw printed on the cover of the book was the word "PORN", I was shocked and slightly appalled and then I took a closer look...



The inside was full of stuff to make you drool like this....


"As soon as I finish the laundry, I'll do the grocery shopping. And I'll take the kids with me so you can relax."


"Ooh, look, the NFL playoffs are today. I bet we'll have no trouble parking at the crafts fair."


"Why don't I get a minivan love, so you can drive something fun?"

And my personal favourite which I couldn't find a picture of:
"Have another piece of cake love, I hate it when you look so skinny."

I told Mack that he was going to have to memorize the whole book. Poor guy.

It Finally Arrived

Now I know that I was bragging about my fab new camera and yet there have been a serious lack of photos on my blog lately. As my friend Jenni pointed out to me yesterday, I am far too much of a perfectionist, and I'm not going to post crappy images on my blog for the world to see. I, would rather make a statement!

Jenni recommended the book that helped her on her way (check out her blog here) and yesterday it finally arrived. I am so excited I could pop. Guess what I'm going to be doing tonight? And then maybe I'll start to post a few images.

This is my new fabulous book.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I feel so thoroughly loved and completely spoiled. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and surprises. I'm still basking (and glowing slightly) in the love. My birthday started over a week ago with my husband surprising me with ultimate gift, then he called most of my friends that he had contact info for and organized a surprise get together Friday night at his parents place. My mother-in-law and two of Mack's sisters organized and catered(thanks Linda, Sara and Cecily it was fabulous,)and my family drove 1 1/2hrs to get there. Then on Saturday I hung out with my mom and we shopped and ran errands etc. It was just such a great day. Sunday night I spent with Mack's family, and then yesterday at work they bought me the hugest, most decadent chocolate cake (which I scarfed like a pig) and last night Mack's parents and his sister Sara took me out to dinner. I got so many phone calls I pretty much spent the day on the phone and everyone around me was jealous that I'm so loved. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I love you all too.

Lost in the Wilderness

I can post about this now, but yesterday I was a complete wreck. Our dear little kitty went awol. Its true. And, to make matters worse, it was my fault. I'll start at the beginning.

Mack and I have been trying to teach Phoebe how to be more independent by using the cat door we installed. She loves going outside, but will not push the door flap open with her head. So, Mack and I tape it open for her and she hops in and out and plays on the porch, but never ventures very far, and always comes back in after a few minutes just to check in and make sure we're still there.

Well yesterday morning she woke me up at 5:30. I decided this was the perfect moment for her to go exploring outside. I taped her little flap open, she dashed right out, and I went back to bed for two more hours of blissful sleep. When I woke, she was nowhere to be seen. I walked into the lounge and to my horror, the tape had come loose and the flap had shut, and the Phoebe had wandered off.

I picked up her favourite toy and went outside looking for her - nothing! Now please remember that I'm pregnant and have twelve tons of hormones coursing through my veins, and my husband is away on a business trip at the moment. I texted Mack that the cat was gone. He called and before he could even say "Hi Sweetie" I was a blubbering mess of tears and non-sensical mutterings which went a little something like this "Cat, lost, rain and snow today, (nose blowing noises), my fault, bad mother, poor Tamzin, (more nose blowing), Phoebe dead, killed the cat, puffy eyes, feral cats, joined a gang, leaving food out." Mack tried to calm me down, but the nicer he was to me the more guilty I felt that his cat was missing because of me, and the more I cried and sobbed and blubbered. I managed to get myself ready for work and kept pretty positive that she would return.

When I walked into an empty house last night and saw that Phoebe hadn't touched the bowl of food I left out for her, and then saw her cute little empty bed, I broke down in a bigger blubbering mess. Mack called right in the middle of this new breakdown (poor man)and had to listen to more mutterings. He was more concerned about me than his poor lost kitty. He kept telling me it was okay and that cats did this sort of thing and it wasn't my fault etc. We had put a tag on Phoebe with her name and Mack's phone number on it, and he was convinced that someone would call. I was more convinced that she had joined a gang of feral cats and the next time I saw her she would be sporting a cattoo and piercings.

At about 9:30 my phone rang, and Mack told me that someone in the next building had found the cat. I walked over and she was sitting outside the door of the apartment that would have been our apartment had she been in the right building. The guy told me she had been sitting there meowing the whole day. When she saw me she was so excited. It made me really happy. She hates being picked up, so I just talked to her as she followed me home. The moment I opened the front door she shot inside, and then walked into each room as if saying "yes, this is the place". She then snuggled on my lap and proceeded to clean herself for the next hour and a half. (I just love that she's as much of a clean freak as I am). Then we went to bed. She kept nuzzling me and wanting me to touch her and would put her paw on my cheek to make sure I was there. How precious.

I didn't realize how much I would miss her when she was gone. I'm really glad she's home. This morning I opened the flap to see if she wanted to go out. She gave me the dirtiest look and walked up the passage. I guess she's an indoor cat now.

Musings

As my body has expanded I have just become more and more uncomfortable in my own skin. I don't sleep well at night cause rolling over in bed is an all muscle participant sport now. My feet and ankles are starting to swell. My belly gets in the way when I'm sitting down. I can't bend over to pick things up. And, I find that waddling is easier than actual walking, because if I waddle I get my whole body momentum moving me forward (not to mention then my thighs don't rub together). I have pain in my knees and ankles. Walking too much makes me tired, and worst of all I don't have a thing in my wardrobe that actually makes me feel cute, cause everything I have to wear now is the size of a house.

My musing is thus - How can so many people in the world be morbidly obese when it is so stinking uncomfortable? I think pregnancy has cured me of ever getting bulky. I just don't like the feeling.

Tiny Little Bits

A friend of mine gave me a newborn nappy (diaper) yesterday. I couldn't believe how tiny it was. I just kept staring at it thinking, now how does any real persons bits fit into something that small. My baby is going to have little tiny bits that are going to fit into that miniature little nappy. And then on the other hand, I'm really grateful that her bits are going to be that small, cause right now she's inside me and has to come out. I'd rather have miniature bits come out than big honking ones.

Ode to Mack

This is one of the first photos I took with my camera. I just LOVE that smile.

Amidst the Snot and Tears

Sunday night was a very emotional night for me. I blame it on pregnancy hormones, and thats what I'm sticking with.

Actually I should backtrack. On Thursday, Mack found out that he had to go to Seattle for two weeks so he could train some guys that were getting deployed. This is on top of the whole bunch of other trips he has to take in the next two months. So, knowing that he wasn't going to be home for an extra two weeks made me really emotional. I had already planned the trip to Moab, and he couldn't come with because of work. So, we found out Thursday that he was going, I left for Moab Friday morning, and Sunday night was the only time we had to spend together before he left early Monday morning.

Okay now back to the story. So, I was already quite emotional on Sunday night knowing I was going to be home alone (and would have to take out the cat litter myself) for a fortnight, and to add insult to injury, this would be the second year in a row that Mack was going to miss my birthday because of military obligations. Anyway, we went to his parents house for a light dinner (Linda is an excellent cook), and while there, Mack put a wrapped box in front of me. I started to blubber even before I opened the gift. I hadn't expected him to have gotten me a birthday gift before he left. I was so touched. Anyway, I started to unwrap the present and what do you think I find inside - only a Canon Rebel XT digital SLR (Jeremy, thats a very, very cool camera). I have wanted a digital SLR for so long now, but couldn't justify spending the money when we already had a camera. Well, the waterworks opened, and I sobbed and sobbed and got mascara all over Mack's shirt.

ISN"T MACK THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!

I pretty much didn't stop crying the rest of the night. Mack eventually had to take the camera away from me cause he was scared I was going to short it out with all the moisture coming from my face area.

So please expect a barage of photos as I learn to use my new camera.

This is a picture of it - isn't she beautiful.

Moab Weekend

It was the Moab half marathon this weekend and Allyson, her dad and brother were all running. It was also my mothers birthday and she had never been to Southern Utah before, so we decided that it would be a great way to celebrate her birthday. We traveled down on Friday morning, and hiked up to the delicate arch that afternoon. My mom did amazingly well on the hike even though she was so sick the weekend before with borderline pneumonia.


Moi with the delicate arch behind me (spot the bump)


The whole gang, Me, Mom, Darren and Ethan, Allyson, Marsha, Doug (Allyson's parents)


This ledge was so high and had such a shear drop. My mom got dizzy.

On Saturday, we walked around the town a little, and watched the runners come in. The that afternoon, we went back into Arches National Park and took another walk through the red rock. It was absolutely spectacular. The landscape there really is very unique. My mom kept on oohing and aahing, and even though I'd been there before, I was oohing right along with her. Just take a look at some of these landscapes taken with our little point and shoot.











A good time was had by all.

Growing Girth

I am now six months (24 weeks) along, and this is what the belly looks like. It just seems so much bigger from my vantage point. The Tazling is doing well with a strong heartbeat, and is growing by the day. Unfortunately her little belly of a home is not
the only thing growing on me.

Funny Ha Ha

I just thought this was funny. I've seen it a couple of times and it still makes me jump.

Its called Why Ice Fishing Sucks!

Proud Parent Moment

For the past two nights our dear kitty has slept through the night. I feel like this is a momentous step in the human cat relations in our household, as just a few days ago I was threatening to take her and dump her in the lake (with the mutant piranhas) if she woke me one more time. Then as luck would have it, Mack and I went out for the evening and forgot to leave food for her (we had just barely fed her). By the time we came home, she gave us a little kitty mouthful. We fed her and went to bed. And would you believe she awoke up with the alarm that morning. My fabulous powers of deduction began to work, and so the next night we followed the same feeding schedule and once again, she awoke with the alarm. Yay and praises be, we seem to have figured out the kitty dilehma.

Unfortunately I am so used to waking up at 3am now, that its become a habit. Maybe I should feed myself just before I go to bed?

Meet Stanley

Stan is Mack's new car. He fell in love with the little Toyota Yaris the first time he laid eyes on one about two years ago in South Africa. The day he found out that you could buy them in the States, was the day his internal yearnings started, and a week ago his internal yearnings became an obsession.

He took advantage of my decreased capacities last Saturday as I lay on the couch with bronchitis, and went for a "test drive", which turned into true love, which turned into Stanley becoming a permanent member of the family. I have never seen Mack so obsessed with a car before. I believe he would sleep in the garage with Stan if it weren't so stinking cold at the moment. He even bought mats for the garage, so we can wipe our feet clean before getting into Stan. See what I mean when I say obsession.

Anyway. This is how our little Yaris got its name. Jeremy and I believe that different cars have various personalities (at least some of them do), and that if they're cool enough to have a personality, then they should also have a name. Well when Mack took me for my first drive in our new little edition, I asked him what he wanted to name his car. The first thing that popped into both our minds, was the image of a smaller balding guy trying to overcompensate for having small man syndrome, the kind of small man that really would do a combover, but realizes just how ridiculous that is, so instead grows a handle bar mustache. Stanley.