Where did I leave off....

I kind of dropped off the face of the vox earth there for a bit. I woke up on Wednesday feeling a bit off, but I ignored it thinking it was just a bit of anxiety, excited to go shopping with baby sister. Then later that night, before bed I realized it was a little more than that. I awoke with some of the worst tummy cramps and horrid tummy noises. It sounded like my belly really had a beast inside. It sounded like when you play a record backwards and there is that demonic sounding voice that you cannot quite make out what it is saying, "worship satan" or "wear the slip satin" I think my belly was saying "to the bathroom NOW!!!!" I listened. It sounded mean. So I laid in bed, and on the couch all day on Thursday. Mr. Lavender took Friday off so he could get some stuff done around the house. We dropped off boxes of stuff at the thrift store, hardware store for some gutter thingies that will keep leaves from clogging the downspout, and packed for our weekend in Portland.
We visited Heartshapedsky and her lovely family. Portland is Gorgeous in the Fall!!! SO many leaves!!!! They were piled more than a foot deep in some places, I wanted to leap out of the car and jump in the piled, kick them around and hear them crunching below my feet. The smell is incredible! The sky was speckled with clouds and the sun shined on our bodies as we walked along the river and across the bridges. E, Heartshapedsky's 4 year old son and I searched for treasures along the path. We found chestnuts, the tops of the nuts, some rocks and some fallen stars. SO much treasure! We saw helicopters and birds, riverboats and sailboats, speedboats and barges. Those treasures were much too big to fit in his cargo pants pockets.
We also attended a small art fair inside someones house. There were 6 artists, three of them were photographers. I picked up their cards and intend to look at their photos later when I get my list of to do's done. I will share them here though. Just in case you al are interested in what I saw.
Cori Kindred
Andrea Jenkins and her flickr site
Abby Powell Thompson
Holy Bananas, that was hard to close those windows! They are all so talented! One of them, I don't know who was who because I was much too shy to speak to these artists that inspired me so, had an old camera slung around her neck. It was shiny and silver with zig zagging metal strips on the side allowing the camera to compact itself when not in use. I wanted to ask about it, the age, what photos are taken with it, etc. I wanted to chat with all these gals and hand them my own Moo cards burning in my purse right next to Ruby hidden away because I was too shy to network. I may leave a comment or send an emal with my flickr URL. I will not think about it until after class tonight.
Tonight is Photography Class number two. I have to bring two good photos to be critiqued and one bad one. I will be able to find two good ones with some ease, but the bad one will be hard, there is just WAYYYY to much to choose from. Also this weekend I am attending a photo critique workshop with local photographers. The topic will be Aperture, Shutter speed, and ISO. I know what all these mean, but I am hoping for more depth on the subject. Also this weekend is my breathing workshop at the yoga studio. Two hours of breathing techniques for relaxation, digestion, and anxiety control. That is what my life has been like the last few days.

Todays to do list:
*upload photos from camera to the computer
*choose two good ones and a bad one
*clean kitchen so I can start making soap tomorrow
*unpack the overnight bag and start/finish one load of laundry


OH YEAH!!!
PLEASE send me your posts that you would like me to see or read, because after 5 days away, there is NO way I will ever get to all of them and get things done today.