Fireworks

July 4th means fireworks and I am lucky to have a pretty nice view of a great Seattle fireworks show over Lake Union.  

Here are a few shots.....

More Firework photos are at my Smugmug Photo Site.

Happy 2008!!!

I am back from our families holiday vacation. Everything got so busy right before the break with lots to do and parties and just the business that comes with the season.

I flew down to Albuquerque, NM where I met up with the rest of the family and we headed up north to the Taos area for a week of skiing, snowmobiling, and shopping. We had a great time and, as always, spoiled my nieces and nephews rotten.

Got back from a long week and was just too tired to celebrate the new year, so I just slept in and relaxed watching football games.

I hope all of you had a great holiday and are refreshed and relaxed and ready for a fabulous 2008!

O Tannenbaum

I'm weird. I know most of y'all already know this about me, but I bet you didn't know I have a weird Christmas Tree fetish. Hee.

I like Christmas tress. I have a Christmas tree in every room of my house with the exception of the laundry room. But I don't have normal green trees, I have funky & colorful trees.
Above is the tree I have in my bedroom. It is made of white feathers and has lighthouse ornaments all over it (to match my lighthouse decorated bedroom).
Above is the bright gold tree I have in my spare bathroom. It has Georgia Tech & Buzz ornaments on it. I love this tree!!! I am still looking for an appropriate GA Tech tree topper for this tree.
Next is the shimmering multi-colored fiber-optic lighted silver tree in my kitchen. Decorations are simple blue-hued glass balls cause the highlight of this tree is the fiber-optic lights. Awesome!!!
Above is the tree I have in my master bathroom. It is lime green (w/ green lights) and has handmade swirly patterned ornaments on it to match the swirly patterns in my bath.
And finally, this is my tree in my living room. It has African decorations on it as well as African animal print boxes below it. Plus, I took a throw blanket I had and used it as a tree skirt.
And these are my awesome Baobob trees from Africa all decorated up in the holiday spirit. I forgot to take a photo of the tree in my spare bedroom, but be assured that it is also decorated up to match the US Southwest/Mexican theme of my spare bedroom (compete with little pepper ornaments).

And finally..... A while back I had asked for suggestions for photos for my mantle. After taking into consideration all the feedback that everyone provided, I realized I just couldn't make a decision on any of my African photos. So, I went another route as you can see below.....
I bought three African made baskets from one of my favorite stores, 10,000 Villages, and hung them over the mantle. I like the end result and got a lot of compliments at my party this past Saturday. The track lighting in the living room is also new.

Christmas Plans

My work party on Saturday (that I hosted) went very well. The weather could have been a heck of lot less windy, but we all had tons of food and drink and laughter. However, spilling your drink on your boss not once, but twice, probably isn't the best career growth move. :-) I was mentally and physically exhausted on Sunday and more than realized I am not 25 anymore where I can party all night and stay up until 2am. My body just won't allow that anymore.

Things are still end-of-the-year busy with tons of work stuff and parties and xmas gift shopping. ACK! I finally got the presents off to UPS and YIKES!, that was expensive to ship. I haven't had any time to even think about our upcoming family trip to Red River, NM. I'm looking forward to hanging with my nieces and nephews, doing a bit of snowmobiling, and just relaxing for the week. Next year is sure to be busy, so the break now is needed to re-energize.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I realize I haven't posted much lately, but this December seems to just be flying by. A list of things to do a mile long is keeping me quite occupied. Fixing up the condo with Christmas decorations, getting the last of the frames hung up, getting the condo ready for a work holiday party I am throwing at my place this coming Saturday (Yikes!), to attending other work & friends' holiday parties both on the weekends and during the week. And all that doesn't even include braving the malls to shop for presents or get ready to head to New Mexico for our family get together over the Christmas break.

There is just way to much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

Laborious Labor Day

On this long weekend of celebrating working, I worked my big butt off and got a lot done. New tires and a tune up for the car, painted the master bathroom (with the help of my friend Lori), installed the new bathroom hardware including a new toilet seat, and cleaned up and cleaned out my closet. Whew! It's always nice to feel like you actually got things accomplished on a long weekend.

Now I am over at my friend Lori's house for a dinner BBQ. Yummy!

Belated USA Birthday!

So, this is a bit late, but here are some photos of some fireworks I could see from my back deck. Not the best, but I am still learning how to photograph fireworks. I love the happy face fireworks (last photo).

Happy 4th of July

I know I have been a bit slack on the blogging recently. Things are just getting hectic right now. Work has started to pick up it pace along with the overtime which I get paid for. YAY! Add to that a month long training class which is critical for my job and thus sleeping or web surfing during training wont be possible.

Then I am getting ready for mom to come for a visit. She was supposed to come on Tuesday, but a busted water pipe in her basement delayed her arrival until tomorrow. I have been busy getting the house ready; cleaning, fixing up the 2nd bedroom, hanging photos, and replacing ugly old carpets. The delay has also allowed me to paint my two bathrooms, so that is what is on my agenda for today. Painting!

Happy 4th of July everyone and a belated Canada Day to my buddy Joy.