It's Halloween already??

Yeah, so we've been really out of it.

Turns out French restaurants have a much different standard keeping their food. Bacteria levels in their food tend to be much, much higher than in the US. And thus the husband became very sick, and we had to spend the majority of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with various doctors and in the hospital. They hooked him up to three liters of IV he was so dehydrated.

France was a bit of a crappy experience all around. Pun intended. Thank goodness for beer and Belgium.

So once the Hubs stopped the process of dying and started recovering, I got the flu. And so instead of taking care of him I've been getting high off of theraflu and sleeping. And suddenly it's Saturday. I have a Halloween party to get ready for. This whole week was supposed to be dedicated to sewing my costume. And I need to make jello shots. And now I'm panicking.

Drinking earl grey with lavender. It is delicious. It's not even 8am. I'm going to march into a Halloween store, pick out the gaudiest, ugliest garb I can find. And then I'm going to make jello shots and all will be well.

See? Disaster adverted.

Home!

Home. Safe and sound.

It was an epic trip... catching mass at Notre Dame. Getting stuck in strikes in France AND Belgium. Watching the sunrise from under the Eiffel Tower (cold but unforgettable). Beautiful, incredible Brugge.

We were nine hours ahead... so it's officially 12:20 am on Monday according to our internal clocks. Laundry. Picking up the dog. Finding some sort of food. Adjusting to home.

Planning for Flight Boredom

On our entertainment list for 19 hours of flying:

Three TV Shows on iPod: two episodes of Castle and one of Madmen
Two books on Kindle: Naked Heat and Heat Wave (Yes, I AM a castle fan)
One DS game: Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar
And a journal.

Taiwan may be in our near future, too- Sometime between November and January. I guess I need to get over the whole "I'm going to die!" thing every time I step foot on a plane.

Three Days and Counting!

In only three days we'll be packing up and heading to Europe for the first time in both of our lives. I used to be a very enthusiastic traveler, but as I age I am becoming much more apprehensive about flying. Not quite sure what happened..

At any rate, I'm very excited about our trip. We'll be arriving Paris on our anniversary. Our only plan that day is to buy a bottle of champagne, pack a picnic, and simply soak up the view of the Eiffel Tower.

That's the plan, anyway. There are strikes and travel warnings for Paris... so it could very well be an interesting trip.

Salon Woes

A while back I went to a salon for a chin length bob. And I came out with a pixie cut and a shaved neck. I cried, got over it, and waited for 9 months for my hair to grow out.

I have a habit of reviewing the places I visit, too. And while I had previously had given them 5 stars (really nice people), nice people does not only a good hair stylist make. And I knocked them down to 1 star, because I a) was really upset about my hair cut, b) was really annoyed by their bracketing my appointments and c) I always feel like I am an inconvenience to them.

It's been a long time since I've posted my review, and I just now noticed that the stylist had written me a nasty note about how hurt she was that I would say such negative things about her.

Here's a tip for companies that want good reviews on Yelp: If you want your patrons to not share to the world how much you suck, stop sucking.

And no, I'm not pulling down my review because your feelings are hurt.

Random Shots

So the other day the hubs brought home another toy. The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4. I'm not one to get super excited about camera lenses... but this lens is so dreamy and soft and reminiscent of my lovely Dianas that I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

1985 Schwinn shot by the hubs:



Our brand new juniper bonsai (his name is Bamboo) shot by yours truly:



Granted, there is a bit of post-processing involved in both photos... but the colors and the softness and.. well.. to be honest, it's the kind of lens that makes me want to scrap the whole housewife thing and become a photographer.

Meet the Dianas!

Remember my internal struggle regarding the Diana F+ and/or the Diana Mini? I now have both. I have yet to master the F+, as I've been having entirely too much fun with the Mini.

Things I've learned so far:

1. Processing film is expensive. Even run of the mill 35mm color film.
   
2. Take your film to a specialty processing lab.
3. Black and white film is incredible. The tonal range is gorgeous.
4. ISO 400 film is my friend.
5. I like life more through a plastic lens.

B&W ISO 400:

Color ISO 400, split exposures:


Color ISO 800:

I got my favorite picture out of my photo experiments, too. Here's my family, all in one 4x6. Something about a plastic lens makes the photos turn out more relaxed and lovely... People don't get all weird about getting their picture taken if the camera is incapable of capturing every tiny flaw.


And the best part about this photo? It was taken the same day. At the same table. The first time my family has had a meal together in at least two years. It was a great day!

The other shoe is hiding.

Time flies when you're having fun, and this year has been exactly that.

When I look back to see how different my life is from last year, I can't help but get all teary-eyed. If I had known marriage would be so lovely, I would have married a long, long time ago.

But as good as things are, I really wonder when things are going to change. I know life rarely sustains joy for longer than a few weeks before something horrible happens. I know the other shoe has to drop somewhere. And I sometimes wonder if it's going to be on our trip.

We leave for Paris next Friday. And there are all sorts of travel warnings for Paris in particular. I know I'm always especially paranoid and/or a worry wart.. but I'd feel a lot better if things were going crappy for us right now.