Procrastination...Or Is It Exhaustion? I have been neglecting my blog responsibilities lately. But I have been so busy at work that the last thing I want to do when I get home is work on the computer. I am actively pursuing new job opportunities at work. I have identifed a number of positions in which interest me and have been working on my resume. I would like to continue in the temporary position that I am in right now, but there are no positions available. So I will be applying for a training, project analyst, and business analyst position. I want to continue to travel, so the training positon might be the best opportunity for that. We have finalized our plans for the Xmas holidays. We will be flying north on the morning of Dec 23 and return home on Dec 29. It is only a week, but I think that is enough. As it is, I may have to stay at my bro's house, because my grandma (bumble bee below) has moved in with my parents for the winter. I hate to be away from my boy's for Xmas, but we will celebrate early. They will be working anyway on Xmas Eve. I told them that they can spend the day together on Christmas. Anyway, the airline reservations are made and the car is confirmed. Now I just have to get shopping. Alot of small, easy to carry gifts...or maybe we will have to head right to the Mall of America to do our shopping before we head to the house. Sounds like a good idea, but in reality it is probably not. Can you imagine the number of people shopping??? We would probably have to park in Wisconsin.

Traveling Can be Expensive...

... and not just for the company. We finished our session early today so I had some time to burn. I went back to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge to see if I could get some more shots.

I walked a short trail to get some exercise after sitting all day. I got a few good shots. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet.

The trail was covered with the fern-like leaves of the cypress trees . . .


After that I headed for the mall. They actually have a pretty nice mall here. Prices were pretty good too. That's what I meant about travel being expensive. See, last week I was overdressed for the group. This week I was under dressed for the group so I thought I could find something to wear that was more appropriate.

I found a great skirt for like $12 and a pair of gauchos for $10. I found a couple of great shirts at another store. So I got some more exercise and so did my wallet. At least I will feel more comfortable in the meeting tomorrow.

My cold is almost gone. Still coughing some, but not too bad. I will be glad to get home. I just want to crawl into my bed and stay there. At least Saturday and Sunday. Read, sleep, and watch movies. Tom will be hunting, so I will have the whole house to myself.

Buzzzzzzz! We just returned from Minnesota yesterday. My husband's sister is sick and her husband was worried that she might not make it. She has been hospitalized before, but she did not want him to call anyone in the family, so he didn't. Of course, he had to go and see her. In a selfish moment, it allowed me the opportunity to go and see my mother, who was recently released from a convelesant center after breaking her arm and leg. Mom is doing well and my sister-in-law is stable. I guess that is all we can ask for. Speaking of my parents, they will use any excuse to go the the casinos on the Indian Reservation in Mille Lacs. My grandmother got sick and ended up the hospital in Aitken, MN, so of course we had to go see her. She is 87 after all. This is a photo of her 2 years ago... Anyway, we drive right by the casino on the way to and from Grandma's. I guess it is a good place to forget your troubles for a while. It was good for Tom, he tends to get melancholy in situations like this. We are home now. Well, Tom is. I am in Decatur for work. Speaking of work, I better make some preparations for tomorrow. I am supposed to lead the sessions tomorrow. Have never done it before...this should be really interesting. Stay tuned...

TGIF It's been a while since I've been here. I've been so busy at work that the last thing I wanted to do in the evening is sit in front of a pc and type. (I'm a technical writer.) However, I felt the urge to scribe this evening. I spent some time editing some of my photos...trying to decide which one to print and donate to a silent auction at work. The money we raise is donated to a scholarship fund for the children of our employees. I think this is the photo that I am going to submit. The "A" Train What do you think? I think it looks pretty cool. See the pedestrian on the right side? I didn't realize he was there until I blew it up and changed it to black and white. Now I don't consider myself a good photographer, but every once in a while I get it right. Framing will be very important. It has to be right. If it looks really good, I may have print a version for myself. This was taken on my recent trip to NY. I have always enjoyed photography. And I have had any number of cameras. I think my first was a kodak pocket instamatic. Boy, I loved that camera. I still have the photos that I took with that thing. But I don't have the camera. I think my boys got hold of it. I also have a nice canon ae1 program 35mm with several lenses, but I rarely use that anymore. We purchased in like 1978 or 79. It is a good camera and I just had it refurbished. Gosh, I guess it was three years ago, because I bought a digital for my trip to Hawaii last year. I have to admit I really like digital photography and I want to get a nikon f70 so that I can have interchangable lenses. I have a good camera now, but that is the one limitation...only one lense, no filters... I also need to get a good tripod.