holidays ahead

i made it home from south carolina realitively unscathed :) the trip there was more about tying up loose ends and making sure my life is heading in the right direction rather than your typical beach vacation. i tied up loose ends and confirmed my current direction in life ...

although it was an emotionally draining week, i did manage to enjoy myself ( you didn't think i was going to head to the coast and not have fun did you????)

every morning i made a point of taking a nice long walk... sometimes on the beach, sometimes near the marsh. i'm very familiar with the area... i've been visiting there since BEFORE i was born

i have a healthy respect for the ocean and for the wildlife that lives in the area.

alligators tend to live in fresh water, not salt water. they often settle for the water traps on local golf courses.

one of the place i love to go while i'm in south carolina has a salt water marsh on one side of a causeway, and a fresh water lake on the other. the only things that separates the two is a road. the area is in a federally protected park. when the tide is high the water from the marsh often seeps into the lake, and when the tide goes back out some of the fresh water from the lake goes into the marsh...

the variety of shore birds and raptors that call that place home is amazing. every time i go there i see new birds that i've never seen before.

one morning while walking along the causeway in the park.. i noticed something highly unusual. i was the only one around.. the sun had just risen above the horizon. there was a young-ish gator walking around the salt water marsh. the tide was out, so there was a lot of mud, and a few tide pools left ... but still the gator wasn't where he should be.

i followed the gator up and down the marsh has he marched back and forth .. i assume looking for a way back into the fresh water. my thought was that he must have crawled out of the lake and into the marsh while the water was very high... because there is a wall of sharp rocks that line the causeway. in 43 years of visiting this place i have never seen a gator climb over those rocks... i've seen them pull their bodies up on the edge of the rocks and sun themselves.. but never pull their entire body onto the rocks. i guess i assumed that they couldn't climb the wall....

anyway.. the gator was starting to get anxious because the tide was coming back in.. and he was beginning to get surrounded by the salt water... he went to the edge of the rocks.. and pulled his body up a bit on the bottom of the rocks... i kept myself safely at the top of the rockwall... at least i believed i was a safe distance.......

the gator was not happy i had been stalking him, but they aren't aggressive by nature. the way i could tell he wasn't happy was because he stopped moving every time he realized i was watching him.. and he would wait until i walked a few yards away to start moving again.

once he was pulled onto the bottom rock.. i decided to get a bit closer. i took several shots i was probably 5 feet from the front of the gator.. but remember.. he was at the bottom of the rock wall ....

after taking all the shots i wanted too... i started walking backwards to see if i could get a different perspective..... and in a blink of an eye.. that gator ran up the rock wall and onto the sidewalk where i had been standing just moments earlier :|

my heart nearly stopped..... but.. it was clear that gator wasn't interested in eating me, or attacking me.. he just really really wanted to get back to the fresh water.

after he darted up the wall.. he took a leisurely stroll across the road.. never even giving me a second look. you can see.. he is only about 4ft at the most. his 12 foot momma was sitting in the fresh water lake across the causeway.... and i will NEVER stand at the top of the rock wall when she is sunning herself below

it was a great morning, and i learned a thing or two about gators that day

now i'm home.. back in michigan just in time to get the kids prepared for the start of school next tuesday.

i have a real vacation planned for the week after they start school. i will be heading to the UK to visit with my friends and to see how many castles i can explore.

vacation

va·ca·tion : /veɪˈkeɪʃən, və-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[vey-key-shuhn, vuh-] –noun

1.	a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday

there needs to be a word to describe this situation

1. a period of time when emotions run high and there are too many people in too small of an area all with different expectations of who will do what work, and how time will be spent; total chaos

its in the mail

i got a confirmation email from the passport agency.... my passport is being processed at the charleston processing center and should be mailed to me shortly. i'm gonna take that as a good sign .. i have 3 weeks before i travel to europe... i'm starting to feel like i need to hold my breath.

my publicity work is getting out of control. on one hand its going great! we've booked 14 gigs between oct and dec :) on the other hand... i have to make sure the venues have the proper materials to promote the concerts. last year was a hard year for us. it was my first year back after being gone for a year, and the concerts are usually booked 6months in advance. so... while i was gone nobody really took publicity seriously..... we didn't have enough bookings last year.

i don't think i'm particularly gifted in the area of promotion.. but at least i understand what needs to be done.

also in the past we got into some bad habits of negotiating our fee based on ticket sales. that was a really bad business deal. i was spending so much time promoting our concerts i didn't get to enjoy the rehearsals and performances.... now we get a flat fee, with an agreement to have a sales table and the venue is in charge of filling the house :D

anyway.. i'm trying to get all the publicity work for the first few concerts done this week.. because on thursday im driving to south carolina. i'll have enough on my plate there .. i don't really need to be worrying about stuff here.

hannah is ready to see her mom :) she called and asked if she could stay with me when i came to visit... she has been staying with my parents for the past several weeks. so hannah, the boys and i will be on the ocean and bill says that he isn't going to work at all that week....... i'll believe that when i see it ....

the zoo of animals will go to the vet for shots tomorrow then to the kennel on thursday morning. i'm not sure exaclty how i'm gonna get 3 cats and a dog into the vet......all at the same time. it reminds me of trying to take all 3 kids to the doctor when they were still in diapers... somehow i managed and i will tomorrow too.

all this work to go on vacation... hmmm something seems wrong about getting exhausted while preparing to travel for fun.......

passport woes

i called the passport agency and actually got a live person on the phone. this person was so nice.. and compassionate... but i think she read the script that was put before her. it went like this...

"your passport is nearing completion and i'd be surprised if you didn't have it within a week"

i'll keep you updated

tomorrow i'm having all of bill's family to this house.. for the first time. we've lived here about 8 months and no one from his family has ever even made an attempt to visit. all but one of his siblings and his parents, live within 20 miles of here.

anyway.. no i'm not moved in yet.. not totally anyway. no i haven't painted the rooms that were renovated. no the pool area and garden aren't in good shape. yes the house is cluttered, dusty and full of animal hair (i do have 3 cats and a dog you know!) but....

yes.. i have a great meal planned and lots of things for the kids to do

i suppose i'll see if they are coming to celebrate those who were born in august.. or if they are going to point out how human i am. (i already know the answer to the question of what they'll do, but i like to give the benefit of the doubt.. who knows.. maybe after 20 years of this.... someone will surpise me)

on the menu:
*salmon grilled on ceder planks
*grilled mushrooms and asparagus
*sliced tomatoes
*spinach salad with dried cherries, apples, red onions, toasted pecans and pureed raspberries mixed with balsamic vinegar (my own version of raspberry vinaigrette)
*fresh michigan sweet corn
*fresh melon (honey dew, watermelon, cantaloupe) all locally grown

beer (the kind i know my brother in law's prefer)
wine (the kind i know my mother in law drinks)
lemonade aid

someone else is bringing a traditional birthday cake and my mother in law will bring a veggie tray for snacking before we eat

of course i have plenty of hotdogs and hamburgers for the kids.. cuz i'm pretty sure a piece of grilled fish isn't what they call "party food"

we'll be eating outside around the pool, the weather is supposed to be nice. i have some nice paper plates and partyware.. considering i don't have plates to serve 28 people.. and wouldn't want to wash them anyway.

this is a hard crowd to please... i bet they would be much more happy if i served bratwurst and doritos, but that isn't gonna happen.

can you tell i have a wee bit of anxiety over this party? maybe i'll sample the wine before everyone gets here ;)

project complete

ok.. so i'm not very good at blogging when my daily routine is tossed out the window.. but here is whats been going on :)

i've been traveling.. as you know. canada has become one of my most favorite places in the world. it isn't that far from me.. .the people are friendly, and its a beautiful country. i can see myself spending much more time there in the future.

i did finish the real estate pano project i was working on. i learned a lot in the process.... i learned that doing 360 panos indoors is HARDER than it seems. straight lines are a nightmare. outdoor panos are easier. also doing a 360 pano in a space that has a lot of blank walls makes it very difficult. i learned how to take the images and layer them together so that the view out the window was visible... i learned how to manipulate control points so that the "auto" part of my stitching program could do a lot of the work for me. i learned that i have wonderful friends who are willing to help me with technical things.. just cuz i asked them for help.

here are the links to the real estate panos.. i realize there are errors.. but overall it was the learning experience that made the project so valuable to me.

http://beth.imageination.co.uk/kitchen.mov
http://beth.imageination.co.uk/masterbedroom.mov
http://beth.imageination.co.uk/livingroom.mov
http://beth.imageination.co.uk/basementbedroom.mov
http://beth.imageination.co.uk/basementlargeroom.mov

i still need to come up with a way to market my photography....maybe the studio stuff is what i'm better suited for.. when it comes to making money. i enjoy studio work... i just don't have a place to work from... maybe thats where i should be concentrating my efforts.

i'm working towards exhibiting and hopefully selling some of my work at an artshow next summer. deciding which images to frame, mat or make into notecards. i'm glad i have several months before the first artshow...i think once i do one or two.. i'll know understand what people are interested in a bit better.

my passport was stolen about 10 weeks ago.. i've applied for anew one, but it still hasn't come. i should have expedited it... :( now i'm getting worried about my trip to europe in september... the US govt said my passport would arrive in 10 weeks..... i still have 4 weeks before i travel to europe. please keep your fingers crossed for me.. cuz when i call the government i get nothing but recorded voices.. when i track my passport online.. it says "being processed"

i have a family party here this saturday.. and then a trip scheduled to visit the ocean (near my parents).... you'll hear more on this subject i'm sure ;)

i woke up with one of the worst migraines i've had in a long time today.. the medicine is finally making some progress so i think i'll take my shower and start the day.

b