Second half of 2013

I realized yesterday that 2013 is half over! Already! Seems to me like it wasn't that long ago we were celebrating with tooting horns and champagne, and making resolutions. And here we are already.

I woke up this morning, stretched my toes toward the foot of the bed, and thought about what I want the next part of this year to look like. Here's my list of what I want July to look like:

House off market. Did that today. The lake is down 7 feet, any homes selling are being given away and we're not in the mood to give away our house. We'll be traveling a good part of the summer, so it seemed the right thing to do. When we get home we'll look at the lake, talk, and see where to go from here.

Lose 8.5 lbs. That would put me below a number that would make me a lot happier, and my clothes fit better too. That means movie popcorn is not my friend. Or coconut cream pie. Sad, sad. that means my tennis shoes are my friend, and since we live in the country there's not reason not to get moving.

Teach myself algebra. Doesn't that sound like a blast?! I passed the first level of math, but still would have to take a remedial intro to algebra, for $225. Have to do that before I can take the classes I actually want to take, so I'm going to use the month of July to teach myself, then try to test out. Hopefully that means I'll be signing up for English 1301 this fall. So I can take creative writing in January. It has to start somewhere.

Read, and read and read some more. Right now I'm reading several C.S. Lewis, then I'm moving on to a book with Dun Cow in the title, and a Dr. Laura book called 'Bad Childhood, Good Life' that an old friend told me about. I'm hoping to start The Source by Michener in August, getting ready for our trip to Israel this fall.

Not spend money this month. Unless it's absolutely necessary. We decided we'd be spending enough on our six week road trip we'd nip and tuck for July. Sometimes it's nice to take a look at life and think about what's really necessary, and what's just fluff. Too much fluff is stressful anyway.

Completely clean out my craft room. I figure it'll take a good three days to empty the closets, go through all the papers and stickers and tools and paints and such, give away, throw away, then put it all back in order. I couldn't do that when the house was on the market, but now I can make a holy mess!

I'm finishing up a photography class, have enjoyed it so much! All that's left is my final project, and I'm doing a photo narrative of Erma Bombeck's 'If I Had My Life To Live Over'. Looking for a pregnant model who won't  mind showing me her tummy. Not many of those out here in the country, but I'm planning some days in town, in search of her.

That's about it for here, for now. It's hot, no rain, but that's what it's like in a lot of the nation right now. How could we all stand the winter if we didn't get a little summer too?

Here's some favorites of what I've been shooting:

My best friend

little girl toes freshly painted green

loving mother

happy Addie

skinny boy soaking up the heat of the sun

fresh grief

red on red

downtown lights

playing with my fish eye = bloated horse!

female version of Jay Leno

black and white filter

grandfather

slave grave

fish eye of a doorway to open the view a bit

I'm learning that looking from the backside of a camera changes how you see things. It's been great fun to see what catches my eye, what pops out, and how I can frame that; how I can tell a story with a photo. So loving my new camera, and learning all it can do. Well worth the six months of allowance it cost me!