Bringing us up to date...

Well, as I wrote yesterday, there have been many exciting things going on in our lives these past few months.

From September 18 until Oct. 3, I was away from home on a photo journey through the Canadian Rockies, ending in Glacier when we met 47 other photographers for the Dgrin shootout. There were 4 of us on the preshootout: Skippy, Phyxius, Gluwater and I. We are detailing the trip in a thread on Dgrin, though it is taking quite a while for each of us to contribute.....This was an immense amount of fun, and I definitely learned alot. I am reediting some photos, and creating panos like crazy with the new computer and PSCS3. Learning new skills and pushing beyond the routine I had established is a good thing, and should keep me sharp for a while.

Colin was home for a week from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6. He has returned to Leverkusen, and seems to be doing well. He is taking the soccer seriously, and understands that this is the point of being there.

Alex's team is planning a trip to Germany for spring break. Plenty of fundraising to do between now and then. I am torn between sitting back and letting others do their thing, and jumping in with my past experiences to draw on.

The crescent homeowners formed a homeowners association this fall, to facilitate the possible installation of city services to our homes. Somehow I have ended up as VP.

And I tried to quit my job! I had another job all lined up - one that would allow a more flexible schedule and the ability to be immersed in the photography community. One I am pretty sure I would have enjoyed a great deal. However, when I discussed this with the bosses at ML, they suggested that I take a promotion there instead - more challenge, more decision making stroke, and of course more money. This was a really tough decision for me - I was being given the opportunity to infuence the things at ML that were frustrating me and causing me to be dissatisfied. I was also being given the opportunity to work in a community of photography lovers, and this would have let me grow my photography skills and business. In the end, I chose to stay at ML and accepted the challenge of trying to make positive change to the business.

Latest To(-y-)ol

I have joined the Mac world!
After months of disgruntlement with Vista, more than months of disgruntlement with the shared computer/monitor with the family (constant battle against fingerprints, sticky keyboards, and access) and a recent change to financials, I have purchased an iMac plus a second monitor. I am sitting at my treasured oak antique desk, with a 20" and a 23" monitor in front of me. these are both really lovely displays and I cannot wait to try editing photos on them. I purchased PSS3 as well, since PSP is not available for macs. Tomorrows task will be installing it, moving some photo files over here and having a go.

I do not intend to put any microsoft programs on here. I still have access to the family PC, the dh's laptop, and of course the windows box at work. This will be strictly for me and my photos.

I am about half way through the photos from the dgrin preshoot and shootout. I have many 'panorama's' to stitch together. One driving impetus for the switch to PSCS3 was the new photomerge, reported to be wonderful. My stitching program, Panorama Factory, is still in purgatory on the infected harddrive. I would rather not risk infecting everything else so this will certainly assist me on that front.

The preshoot/shootout was absolutely amazing. I cannot remember when I last had so much fun!!!! I have plenty of stories and photos to share from that trip, and a few other new developments in my life in addition to the new 'puter. Guess it is time to start writing again.