pan-o-rama

the lovely view from my balcony, thanks to my digital's panoramic mode. i could cleaned it up, but i liked the curves.

my baby 2, and blue

i woke up at 4 a.m. to find my pillow pushed off the bed. i look down, and blue is laying on it like a human would: his head is resting on it, and he's laying on his side. it was the weirdest, cutest thing i've seen in a while.

had a big exam this morning. it took me about 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish. i'm never the last person done, but i just couldn't concentrate long enough to make coherant answers to the questions. it was ridiculous, but it's over, and i think i did well.

what's next on my insane list of things to do for school?

my baby

lucky number

oh wait! that's today! haha. pure coincidence, i promise.

one day i will be thankful

one day i will be thankful for all that i've endured in the special ed cohort program. that day is not today.

here ducky, ducky, ducky...

another note on tara

the most beautiful part of yesterday's conversation was when she was talking about embracing her motherhood. she's not worried about being a teacher anytime soon. she's there for her kids. she's home schooling trae and can't keep up with his learning. she's being the mama savannah surely missed in her hours of commuting and classes and placements. she's being a supportive wife, not the mrs. judd she was called in the classroom. she has her family again.

tara's and my friendship is one that's foundation is in the fact that we are both free spirits. but foundation is the wrong word, 'cause that makes it sound like we were grounded. we were anything but, and the rides to class in (almost) macon were my release. they got me through my first semester in the cohell, and i miss them desperately. tara's moving on, to the horses or the salty sand, and with that move she gets the fresh chance to be who she truly is and wants to be: a mom, a wife, a woman. Godspeed Tara H. Angelwings. and God bless. i know He will.

"Sometimes I think....it's so weird that I'm not there anymore but now looking back. I cant remember how I did it! The driving, drill weekends, homework, kids, being a wife, sunday school teacher, church on Sun and Wed...wow! And now, Im CHILL! It's perfect...and Im finally enjoying every moment. Not just those I can cram into a minute. I take the kids to the lake about 3 times a week, Trae fishes, Savanna feeds the ducks, we go on a lot of nature walks, we take our time shopping for groceries, go to the library on Mondays, etc.....have long conversations and really connect! Sonny cant believe how relaxed I am and how much stuff we are doing together. It's kewl! I made my first APPLE PIE this week! Trae and I read a story (library book) called HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE and SEE THE WORLD. Then we actually made the apple pie. It RULED! I love it!"
-Tara, 3-11-05

i saw tara today!

(guest photographer mrs. tara judd)
so i'm sitting in the middle of a really long (4 hours) boring meeting in macon (how the heck do people talk so long?) when i look down @ my cell phone and see that i have a missed call. i check to see who it is, and it's tara, who i haven't seen since our going away lunch in december. for those of you who don't know tara, she was my bestest bud in the cohort and she had to leave because her husband is having to move to a new base (air force). she's crazier than i am and did a lot of good for my mental health. i have a lot of fond memories of us driving to class with jason mraz or maroon 5 blaring over the stereo in her mini-van. so anyway, i take the opportunity to leave the meeting to see what she was calling about. i get a kick out of the outrageous message she left me and call her back, but she doesn't answer. so i return to the meeting, and when it's finally over, i have another message. it turns out tara's also in macon @ the mall, so i drove the short distance and met her in the food court. i caught her up on the cohort mess and she filled me in on her kids and where they might be moving. she had shopping to do and i had to get home to blue. my spring break had been pretty dull considering i stayed in milledgeville, but getting to see her was great. it definitely made my day!

chevy caprice

i shot this at a recycling plant in milledgeville. i didn't expect anybody to be working on a sunday, but when big tough guys started paying attention to me i chickened out and left, only taking one picture.

blue smells the flowers

blue, 10 months

here's a shot of blue at 10 months... man how time flies. he's growing up so fast.

fun stuffs

i had a blast playing a gig last night at st. stephens church in athens. they were having a lock-in with kids from elementary all the way through high school. about half way through my set list i stopped and asked them what kind of music they listened to. before i thought any more about it they had all yelled "rap." so then i informed them i couldn't rap with an acoustic guitar. then they said "metal." again i said "acoustic guitar." finally people started saying bands that i could play. i vaguely remembered "time of your life" by green day, and struggled through "all for you" by sister hazel. about that time my voice just left me, so when i played "she will be loved" by maroon 5 it was a disaster. they laughed a lot as i struggled and made funny faces and even funnier noises. i got some of the kids to come up on stage and dance or play tambourine. i couldn't find my bongos.

this sounds awful, but right after they paid me, i got an e-mail saying that the remote for my camera was available from my favorite online camera store. so since i had just gotten paid, i bought the remote and a new lens. it's a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 nikon. my summer camp director says that i should wait and spend money on a better one, but frankly i don't want to spend $800 or more on a lens. i figure it'll be neat to have on my trip to baltimore in april. maybe i'll take some time to see dc. we'll see.

i'll swing by walmart on the way home to pick up my pictures.

ducks in the rain

worked with adults with intellectual disabilities all day today. adults used to intimidate me, but today was a blast. we had so much fun. the duck on the left had a head... i promise!

chevy

talked to ms. meade about photography today. well, that and the v monologues. i'm still trying to digest everything from last night and i'm not sure when i will. what i've been telling everyone is that it felt like i used a part of my brain that i had never used before last night. i really can't describe it other than to say it's different, provocative, explicit, and a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

red bench

the cohort is a beast. i'm still figuring out how to tame it.

audrey & mr. "booby"

i made them keep their heads stuck out while i ran and grabbed my camera. i knew it'd be a good shot and was pleased when it was.

happy 21st justin! (go and enjoy your second amendment rights, just be careful.)

happy friggin' 22nd lyndsay! (isn't it national pig day too?)