The last few days...

You know how you sometimes have a day when everything you do just turns to gold? Well, try to imagine the exact opposite of that and you have Wednesday and Thursday of last week, for me. I was literally fighting back tears at one point, just because, despite my greatest efforts there was NOTHING I could do to make things come out as I needed them to. Two labs gave me shoddy, unacceptable work and got it to me later than scheduled, the software I use to send image files to the lab decided to malfunction and cost me hours of productive time to fix, my own "old reliable" G5 Mac (really nice computer) decided to freeze up on me two times and then quit unexpectedly a couple of times,erasing alot of hard work. My website was cancelled due to a billing address error--I didn't update it when I moved and they just cancelled me--no warning or anything. Apparently it had been cancelled for 10 days or more before I was even aware. A potential client was the one to give me the heads up on that--how embarrassing! On top of everything, I contracted a stomach virus. It was one of those every half an hour type deals so I had to carefully time a really fast trip to the local market for saltines and ginger ale, before the next barrage hit me, if you get my drift. Geez. Thankfully, I was feeling much better by the evening hours and I slept like the dead.

Friday was alot better.The sickness had completely passed and the couple of appointments I'd scheduled for the day smoothly. The St. Lucia couple came by and I showed them some more of their images and they were VERY pleased. That always helps to make up for a bad day or two. I took the dogs for a long walk and hit the shower and headed out for a nice supper with a friend. We went to my new favorite place "Milano's". We both enjoyed a glass of wine and I ordered my favorite dish on their menu. It consists of al dente spaghetti tossed with a rich and slightly sweet marinara sauce, ricotta cheese and fried eggplant. It is such a good combination. I indulged a bit and had tira misu and coffee for dessert.Yuh-um!

Saturday, I spent a few hours working on various work projects and returned some business emails and got my website back up and up-to-date with some new images. This was followed by a little house cleaning and the usual walking of the dogs and showering before going up into the mountains to a local Blues Festival. Wow, am I glad I did! We enjoyed a few local acts and when the headliner took the stage, she just blew me away. The Reba Russell Band was there name and they were just great. I just kept thinking, How are you guys still playing at little podunk gigs like this when you're THAT good? Here're a few images from the evening:




There were tents set up offering samples from local wineries and a nice selection of gourmet foods from an upscale store in town,too. The mountains were really gorgeous and there was a nice breeze blowing. A good time was enjoyed by all!

Sunday, I slept in and didn't go to church. I offer no excuses for my behavior other than a general lethargy. *sigh*. I worked on my website and cropped and retouched another batch of images and messed with my little herb garden and tomato plant. I'm rather proud of that tomato plant; it's producing some fine looking fruit. I've got to get it staked a little better, though, or it's going to fall over. I enjoyed another long walk with the dogs and then played with them in the yard for a while.

I am reading the book Ender's Game. It's a simple story, nothing particularly. This is my 3rd time reading it and I swear I get something new from it each time. It's very sad and yet you're SO pulling for the little guy. It's just a good read. Has anyone else read it? Have any insights? I'm just curious.

I also started reading The Historian. It's a new book and is receiving great reviews. It's a vampire story, but by no means typical. It's remarkably intricate and realistic, yet with a delicious, underlying creepiness.

Today's hours were divided between the Dr.'s office(minor problem)and sitting in front of the computer screen. Hopefully, I'll get a little more accomplished tomorrow. Alright folks, I'm hittin' the hay. I leave you with one inspirational quote. This kinda puts the couple of bad days I had last week into some perspective! This is from a London resident:

'No one's going to stop me going where I want to go in my own city,'' said shop worker Stuart Mills, 27. ''You know what British people are like. They'll just carry on.''

You go, boy!

Goodnight, all.