Fun With Photo Editing

Rain is great in two situations.  It's lovely when you can be inside relaxing and listening to it and sometimes it makes really pretty designs when it lands on things.  Like the sunroof of my car.

So before I headed home on a wet and miserable commute, I snapped a shot of the rain from inside the car.  I like the original result, but I also thought it might be fun to play around with the photo editing software built into my laptop.   I'm not the most creative photo editor in the world, but I think a couple of these are pretty cool.


The first photo is the original, followed by 4 variations.

The Original Photo

Obviously my photo editing software is a little basic, but I'm not inclined to drop bucks on Photoshop at the moment.  If you're a photo nut like me, have you found any FREE photo editing software you like?  If so, please leave me a comment and I'll be grateful forever.

In the meantime, Happy Photographing!

Rainy Days Make Me Want To...Exfoliate?

I woke up to rain this morning.  It's been raining all day long.  As I write this, it's STILL raining.  Not your typical day in sunny, Southern California, to be sure.

I don't know what it is about rain that saps the energy out me, but it does.  So since I was having a rough time getting motivated this morning, I posted this question on my social networking sites to see what other people do to pass time in the rain.

Rainy Days Make Me Want To __________.

Here's a sampling of the responses I got:

• Read a book
• Watch movies
• Scrapbook
• Get stuff done around the house
• Make yummy comfort foods like stew and chili
• Sleep
• Curl up by a fire
• Cuddle with someone (far and away the most popular response)

The key element of all these activities was relaxing.  Being mellow.  No one was in a huge hurry, just doing something fun and seeing where the day took them.  I have books I could have read, getting stew ingredients would have meant leaving the house, I don't have a fire place and I have no one to cuddle with.  Sadly, I wasn't in the mood to drag out my scrapbook stuff even though I have a pile of projects needing attention.  So what's a girl to do?

I decided a little in-home spa treatment was the ticket.

A friend got me this tub of Origins Modern Friction mircrodermabrasion scrub AGES ago.  It's been sitting in my medicine cabinet staring at me since I got it.  I've packed it up and moved it at least once.  Terrific gift idea, but another one of those things I just never get around to doing for myself.  But on a rainy day, I figured what the heck!

This stuff is basically the consistency of wet sand.  You put it on your skin dry with the little spatula, let it set for a minute, then massage it into your skin and rinse it off in the shower. 

Pretty easy, right?  For the most part yes, but I did learn a few lessons.

• Stand in the tub when you apply something like this.  Otherwise the spatula splatters a little, and you get dabs of this stuff on the floor, in your bathmat, etc.  You get the idea.
• When you rub it in, it's gonna be a little rough.  The exfoliating ingredients are things like Chinese purple rice, corn cob extract and bamboo extract.  Not exactly the kindest ingredients on the planet.  Actually, when I read this stuff had corn cob in it, all I could do was laugh and think of my Dad.  If I ever told him I was using something like this, he would have offered to save me money and go buy me a corn cob to do the same job!
• While you're doing the massaging part, be standing in the tub because little pieces are gonna fly everywhere.  Why does beauty always have to be so hard?

But the payoff was totally worth it!  I can honestly say my skin has never felt softer or smoother.  The best part is that Origins got smart and is now selling this same product in a tube so it's easier to use (plus no more keeping track of the little spatula)!

Now I just need someone to cuddle with and this rainy day will be just perfect.

Life Lessons From A Little Black Book

The digital world we live in today allows us to capture and recall so many moments in our lives more quickly and efficiently than ever before, but nothing brings them flooding back quite like a memento from our past. 

There's something about an actual physical object that you can touch that has special meaning.  You know a memory is important to you when you've had to pack and move it a ton of times.  You're acknowledging that it's a significant enough piece of your past that you will always find room for it in your future.   The things we choose to keep close to us are part of who we are and what defines us as a human beings.

This Kappa Kappa Psi pledge book is one of my mementos.

Kappa Kappa Psi is a National Honorary Band Fraternity.  Like most Greek societies, you earn membership through a process known as pledging. 

My pledge class

I pledged the spring semester of my freshman year of college, and it was one of the happiest and most challenging times in my life.  I learned life lessons through the process that I carry with me today.  I am a better person for having served this organization and my fellow brothers. 

Now before you get worried I spent half of my freshman year drunk, standing on tables and reciting slogans, it wasn't like that.  KKY is a co-ed service organization, not a social one, so my pledge period consisted of things like helping clean the marching band uniform room, selling coffee and donuts in the music building to raise money for chapter projects and breaking my back loading tubas and drums into the band truck after daily practices.  I will admit we did have fun too...but those stories...well, some of those stories aren't actually blog material!

What life lessons did I learn from my experience pledging?

• Responsibility.  I had to carry my pledge book with me at all times, or I was in big trouble with my big brother. 

My Big was a senior when I was a freshman, so I got to see him graduate!  Proud Little Brother over here!

• The value of hard work.  All those back-breaking band truck loading sessions earned me points in my little book.  So did getting up early to get the donuts.  Points were good, and nothing good comes easy.
• Time management.  I had to have visits with all the active members of the chapter so we could get to know each other.  That meant juggling my class schedule and theirs PLUS band commitments, and we had a limited amount of time to do it.
• Valuing differences.  Some brothers gave lots of points pretty easily.  Some were really tough and asked a lot of you before they gave you any credit.  Easy or tough, they were all valued friends that were there for the organization in their own way, and we needed each and every one of them to be successful.
• Appreciating your history.  I had to learn the names of the founding members of our chapter (some of whom I'm proud to say are friends to this day), as well as the history of the organization.  Without the contributions of all those people, I would never have been fortunate to enjoy the experience I did as a member.
• Brotherhood.  If any of my brothers needed me today, I would find a way to help them.   When my father died, my mother was astounded at the number of my brothers that sent flowers in his honor.  The bond we all shared is stronger than any test of time, and it will always be that way.

So why did I have occasion to pull out my pledge book today?  My chapter is celebrating it's 30th anniversary, and MY Little Brother texted me for some information about our family tree. 

I love my Little Bro!

And wouldn't you know, the answers to everything were right in my little black book, just like always.

Seeing Green In Downtown LA

I've lived in downtown Los Angeles almost 2 years and sadly haven't seen much of my neighborhood.  I realized this during my regular walk to Staples Center for the Kings game on St. Patrick's Day.  Someone scheduled an unofficial pub crawl around downtown and I never got the news.  I just saw lots of green people.

At least the green people helped me find another Irish-themed bar only 3 blocks away from my place.

Amazing what you find when you look half a block south of Figueroa....

The only other Irish bar I knew about is the one on Figueroa I pass on the way to Staples Center.  Never stopped in, but if they have stiff drinks that will be changing soon!

Plus you have to love a bar that wants someone drunk to get their head stuck in honor of the holiday!

So I passed two Irish bars and didn't stop in for a St. Patty's day libation?  Not when they had a beer garden set up in the plaza right across the street from Staples Center!  The best part was getting to see one of those epic bottom up better dispenser thingys in action!

I quickly figured out the secret when a couple of my fingers shifted to the bottom of the cup. The only thing keeping your beer in there is a little magnet, so if you don't hold your cup by the sides, you're going to spring a leak.  We all know lost beer would be alcohol abuse, right?

And you certainly can't have a proper St. Patty's Day quaff without a drinking buddy.  Luckily I found the perfect one on the walk downtown.

Hockey babes & drinking buddies.  WE RULE!

Plus the best part of having all this downtown?  No worries about driving home!  I think we can all drink to that...

My Time In Ireland

In December 2006, I traveled to Ireland for a memorable 8 days with a bunch of current and former JMU band geeks who also happen to be some of my best friends in the world.   I had an amazing time, and my visit confirmed absolutely everything I had read and heard about the beauty of the Emerald Isle and the warm hospitality of it's people.

Unfortunately, I returned with a horrible cold (the Irish climate in December will do that to you), so I put all my photos in a box, intending to pull them out later and get around to making a scrapbook.  Sadly, they haven't come out of the box until today.

So in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here are a few of my favorite scenes from my Irish adventure.

Malahide Castle

 Views of the grounds around Malahide Castle

Coastal views on the drive from Dublin to Fingal County

Trinity College - Dublin

And of course, there is nothing quite as fun as watching the locals stare in awe at the biggest marching band they've even seen forming a parade down the streets of Dublin at Christmas time.

But by far the best part of the trip was sharing an Irish beverage... or two....with one of my oldest friends.

Sadly, I'm not much of a Guinness girl...

THIS is more my speed.

At least they had plenty of hangover helper in Dublin....

Cheers, everyone!  Hope you have a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Or as they say in Ireland, Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

Lessons From The ER: The Worst Part

Not feeling well is bad.  Feeling like something might be wrong with your heart is worse.  But far and away the worst part of an ER visit is the last part -- THE BILL.

HOW MUCH DO I OWE YOU?

I believe I mentioned I have great health insurance.  I do.  But like most insurance, it includes things like deductibles and co-payments.  Thank goodness I work in the insurance industry and understand what these things mean, so I was at least expecting a bill.   I just had no idea it would be this much.  If this is only MY portion, exactly what does an ER visit cost these days? 

Luckily my insurance has a lovely website where you can review details of your plan and any bills on-line so I could get some answers.  In doing so, I remembered I voluntarily chose a higher deductible plan because I NEVER GO TO THE DOCTOR and it helped lower my insurance premiums.   I've already set a reminder on my calendar to change that during my company's next annual benefits review period!

But getting back to the bill itself.  Here is an itemized list of everything I had done.  Some of it's in plain English, some of it isn't.  Again, thank goodness for my professional background or I'd be going insane trying to understand this.

So what's the grand total for an ER visit including an EKG, chest x-ray, blood test and face time with a doctor?  I was amazed to discover it was $2796.79.  This, my friends, is why you should be afraid of doctors.

Sadly, I've resigned myself to the fact that health care must now be a more regular part of my annual budget.   The best I'm hoping for at this point is simply avoiding another ridiculous bill like this and paying smaller amounts on a more regular basis.

I guess that's a small price to pay for being healthy....and alive.

What Does $50 Buy These Days?

My hard-earned dollars seem to buy less and less. Today I spent $56 on a single purchase! Any guesses what is was?

• My groceries for a week?
• Two seats in Section 210 for the Los Angeles Kings vs St. Louis Blues on St Patrick's Day?
• 10 mornings started with a Decaf Venti Non-Fat, No Whip Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks?
• 4 nights of skating at Toyota Sports Center (including skate rentals)?
• 5 Chipotle Burrito Bowls with sides of chips and guacamole?
• Movie tickets for myself and 3 other friends?
• A new Brighton necklace for my collection?

No. I got this.


A single tank of gas in Pasadena, California.

I won't be having much fun this summer....