I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. I was in a bad mood most of this week, but it's ending well.

Survivor has started tonight, woot!! I love it. Brazil looks gorgeous.

I am stressed...but it will be OK. I just have a lot of catching up to do on Sunday. About 1 hour of work, and a few tests to study for. Two are next week, one is probably the following week. That's not so bad when you see it written, right? A little work, a lot of studying, but nothing a pitcher of tea and a husband to go grocery shopping can't fix.

I am thinking about taking something herbal for mood/stress/anxiety. I figure it can't hurt. I have been really high strung lately. For those of you who know me well, I mean more high strung than usual. Anyway, just a random side note. It can't hurt, even if it's just a placebo effect.

I worked out last Wednesday and this Wednesday. I got the 30 day Shred DVD in the mail today. I was going to wait til Sunday or Monday, but I was thinking about all the crap I am going to eat this weekend, and I figured I would carpe diem. I really liked it. Seriously. It's a 20 minute circuit workout. 3 minutes of strength, 2 cardio, and 1 abs X 3, with a quick warmup and cool down. 20 minutes. I can do anything for 20 minutes. Well, almost. I couldn't quite keep up, but I saw it through to the end. Every part of my body got a workout. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Heck, I am sore already! In a good way. I think I can commit to 20 minutes here and there. I have Jessica to workout with me Wednesdays, and next week another friend is coming on Monday and Thursday evening.

I am going to visit my grandma tomorrow. I was a little worried at first because she was in a bad mood when I called her, and she basically thinks our family is going to hell, but the last couple of days, she seems excited that I am coming over. I am looking forward to it, too.

Finally, Valentine's Day. We made a reservation at Alfornos, an Italian restaurant in Flower Mound. I am so ready to eat some bread.

And speaking of that, I am doing Phase 2 of South Beach starting next week. Whole grains and occasional fruit can come back into the diet. I am really craving some blueberries and oatmeal. And whole grain spaghetti will make my life easier. I can always use some easy.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Well, since Clint is back for a few months, I don't think Tom and I are gonna sit around the house naked eating fondue, as was our original plan for Valentines Day. OK, we weren't really planning to be naked, but we were going to recreate our traditional fondue night out at home this year, and there is a good chance that we'd end up naked at some point. TMI? I'm sorry.

Anyway, we are planning to go out now, and I think we really need a nice night out. I don't want expensive. I want normal priced food (like, we spend way less than $100 including wine and tip). But I have mastered the enchilada, the salsa, and the margarita, so it isn't as fun to go to Cristina's as it used to be. That was our go-to date.

Sushi is too fast... and not romantic where we normally go. But super tasty. But not what I am thinking...

WHERE?!? Keep in mind we will probably eat dinner at 5pm or maybe Friday because VD is a Saturday and I hate crowds. We need a no-reservations kinda place. What do you think??? What sounds good to you right now? Where would you go to dinner to get exactly what you are craving? Please offer multiple suggestions. Thank you. Or what would be fun? Should I make him take me to the Magic Time Machine? What do we DO?!

If you couldn't tell, I was pretty excited to figure out about "actions" in photoshop after seeing Pioneer Woman's actions (that aren't compatible with Elements), and finding the Coffee Shop actions I posted in my last blog that ARE compatible with Photoshp Elements. Now, I don't have to LEARN anything. I just have to CLICK a button. Love it. I am tired of learning all the freakin' time.

Original from the wedding spectacular.



With the vintage attic action. (Edit: I keep coming back to look at this one. It is definitely my favorite. I didn't like this picture before because we look funny because they had fed us 2 bottles of champagne, but now we are vintage drunk, and that's OK. It reminds me of an old Coca-Cola ad. Hey, maybe I should photoshop a coke bottle into our hands!)



With the regular vintage action




Original



Muted colors



Muted colors with vignette




Original

With 50% opacity vanilla glaze

Glazed with vignette

Original

With color pop decaf

And with color pop regular.

Easy enough for me! I am sure free actions exist elsewhere, but this is plenty to keep me busy for a while. It's my new favorite blog.

http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/

Check THAT blog out. The actions work with Photoshop Elements, too. Yay.

I am past my point of productivity on this paper, and this is the motivation I needed to GO HOME. And play with actions.

i.e., Tammy & Heather.

Sorry Tammy, you'll have to wait til I croak! :-) I am not really thrilled about the fact that ANYONE is reading it, even a stinky TA I may or may not know.

Heather...that is exactly what I would like to write about, right about now. I don't feel like going outside to take more pics in the wind, but pretty much what you saw in this picture is what you get.

Cabbage up top, broccoli in the middle, and brussel sprouts far right. The broccoli is doing great and tastes amazing. The cabbage and brussel sprouts are a little slow - I may need to water more. Hopefully we will get some rain this weekend. But they are all healthy. I have plenty of brussel sprouts, they just aren't very big yet.

And SPRING. I have a lot of ideas but who knows if I will have time...

One almost-for-sure thing is, I want Tom to make me some shepherd's hooks so I can hang some upside-down cherry or grape tomatoes. I am not dealing with tomato plants in the ground this year. They didn't even put out last year, and it was a huge pain the butt.

I want my okra to go somewhere other than my tiered bed. They were like trees and ended up shading my smaller plants.

I want to find a spot where I can grow flowers (wildflowers?) for cutting. I don't know where yet. But it may be here....(damn, OK, I'll go take a picture.)

To the left - that is our back porch. I think I could put 2 raised beds. See that stepping stone walkway? (It is hard to see...it starts by the waterhose.) That is the middle of our back porch. The walkway is centered on the porch, not between those posts. I would like the beds placed based on the porch, not the posts. If that makes sense. I think it would be an easy day project...well, easy in that it would only take a day, but probably a big pain.

Then I spotted this spot in the yard I haven't messed up yet. I may or may not do raised beds here, but I could definitely try some long pots mounted under those windows. Hmmmm.

I don't know what to do in my tiered beds...probably the usual, bell and jalepeno peppers, some herbs, whatever looks good at the time. I have shade issues in that bed, so I need to do some research. I might grow garlic, too...

BUT - I have the busiest semester of my life, so we shall see how it goes. :-S

It was a long, full, productive, good day. Here is a peek:

8-9am: drove to school, stopped at McDonalds for a $3 south beach friendly breakfast and coffee, and enjoyed it in the parking lot.

9-10am: Psych of Death and Dying class. This is becoming one of my favorite classes because the professor is extremely knowledgable. Our first assignment is a lengthy reflection on death, including our obituary, funeral details, will, eulogy, and a picture representing death. :-S It is good to think about this stuff, but it was harder than I thought it would be. I think of myself as pretty desensitized when it comes to dying, but writing in my obituary (I was 101 when I died) that I was preceded in death by my husband and sister was sobering. UGH. I am not ready to lose any of these folks.

10-11am: History and Systems of Psych. Professor went over the same thing he went over last time. Oh well. I had him last semester and he did the same thing. As a result, we were always behind and our tests were always easy. I'll take it.

11am-12pm: MY LEAST FAVORITE CLASS. Adult Development & Aging. OMG. $900 for a class so I can sit and have a powerpoint read to me by a grad student. I try to have a good attitude toward grad students because I hope to be there someday, but damn. Don't read slides to me. PLEASE.

12-2pm: Worked while Jessica was in class. Ate almonds and a cheese stick. Met an instructor of one of my boss' online classes I hadn't met before, which was nice.

2:30-3:30pm: Jessica and I worked out. 30 minutes on the elliptical while I watched the end of General Hospital, which was hilarious today, followed by stretching, ab exercises, and rowing. Good times.

3:30-5:15pm: Farted around in my office, didn't feel like working, didn't have to, so I didn't. Ate the salad I brought for lunch. Couldn't find a fork so I ate it lettuce-wrap style.

5:15-6:00pm: walked to class. Slowly. We weren't doing much very quickly after the workout.

Class til 9...UGH. And with that, my battery is about to die on this sucker, so I am out of here. I am tired but had a great day. I have to write a conference paper this weekend, but I am sure I'll need a break from it this weekend, so I'll come whine about it later. LOL

Had a great day at John & Kimberlee's house yesterday. They recorded the UFC fights Saturday night, so we got to watch them before the big game.

You'd think the Cowboys were in the SuperBowl!



John & Tom in the loooooveseat.





John manning the ribs.




Greg waiting on ribs.

I don't know why it looks like I'm lactating. I'm gonna end up on one of those "I didn't know I was pregnant til I had the baby" shows. LOL

They are freakin' cute.

See what I mean?

Awwww, Greg & Pal.

Pal was being all kinds of adorable yesterday. Sweet doggie.

And me, always behind the camera unless Tom steals it for a minute.

Was sad at the outcome of the game. The Cardinals were SO close, and their QB was SO cute. Oh well!