Angie: June 2004 Archives

I am finally going to begin the journey to do something I have always wanted to do. I have applied for and will be working my way toward certification in genealogy. Steven is wonderfully supportive of my goal. It is expected that it can take as long as a year to prepare and submit all the requirements and I want to succeed on my first attempt. I spent the morning cruising Amazon and made purchase of a half dozen books ... new and used ... incredible the amount some books think they are worth. I buy from other sellers and take advantage of the used/new prices. Hey, I can get more for my money. I am working on lists and trying to dig up what I can remember as most of my stuff is still in Georgia in packing boxes. hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go :-) Here is my book list: Becoming an Accredited Genealogist: Plus 100 Tips to Ensure Your Success List Price: $19.95 Paid Price: $15.96 For All Time : A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History List Price: $15.95 Paid Price: $9.50 Online Roots: How to Discover Your Family's History and Heritage With the Power of the Internet List Price: $13.99 Paid Price: $6.90 The Sleuth Book for Genealogists: Strategies for More Successful Family History List Price: $13.29 Paid Price: $2.95 Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian List Price: $16.95 Paid Price: $10.00 The Genealogy Sourcebook List Price: $12.57 Paid Price: $3.33 Organizing Your Family History Search List Price: $17.99 Paid Price: $11.94

Today was a good day but it was a long day. 3:45 am - Up to finish laundry and get the girls things ironed for their photo. 6:00 am - Kids up and having breakfast. 7:00 am - Kids showered, hair washed. 7:30 am - Steve up, tea and vitamins for him. 8:30 am - Girls hair finished. 9:00 am - Everyone out the door. It was a great morning for photo's. The day was a bit overcast and wet and clean from all the rain we had Friday and Saturday. The photographer arrived at the Marina at 9:31 am for the photo shoot. Everything I think was great. The kids where awake, bright eyed and smiling - even Steve lol The photographer arranged the pose and from the digital images he let us veiw after the photos will look good. We were all dressed similar. Everyone in jeans with a white button down oxford shirt. The girls had on over sized shirts with the shirt tails tied in the front just at their belt buckle. Underneath with the front of the shirt unbuttoned each wore a different color: me, black; Colby, coral; J., pink; Gracie, white with a red belt. The girls wore their hair down and flowing, with silver hair clips, small silver earrings, small silver ring on one hand, some with toe rings (for the barefeet) and a touch of lip gloss. The shots were taken on the pier with barefeet. It was casual. I think they will be just what we wanted. The photographer was great. He had a nice personality and was friendly without being cheesey .. you know the kind of person you could make friends with. Steve was impressed with his camera .. digital, 8 mpg. He took about 40 shots. I was seated center with my knee bent and my foot flat on the pier, Colby was behind me on my left, her knee brought up under my elbow, Steve was behind me on my right, on his knees, J. was to his left standing for some shots and sitting against my raised knee for others and Gracie seated in front of me with her slightly reclined and on one elbow which was resting on my folded in knee. Gracie wasn't smiling alot and he had the kids say 'pizza' and what-not. The smiles weren't big enough and as they are gross, weird kids (lol) I made some fart comments and told them to say 'fart' instead (lmfao) the smiles where great!!! I believe there were even some genuine smiles from Steve. We had brought some bread with us so the kids would get a chance to feed all the wild canadian geese there. Steve went back to the truck to get the bread and the photographer was packing up his gear and he says, I'll wait a round a few minutes and get a few shots of the kids feeding the geese. He hung around for a long time and took 40 - 50 shots of the kids feeding the geese on the pier. The geese came up very close, to their feet, and where begging for bread, the kids where laughing and squealing and backing away. He said he thought those would be excellent shots. Steve asked him about having all the proofs and he said they normally didn't give all the proofs to the customers (weird here, back in Ga when you pay a $100 sitting fee you get a copy of all the proofs) but if the photographs purchased where $600 or more we would then get all the proofs and a custom cd. I believe Steve will be writing a check for the $600 ... he wants the proofs. Expensive ? Yes, but worth it to our way of thinking. Steve has never had a professional photo with J. and this is something we don't do again for 10 years or more. We want a large photo, at least 16x20 for the livingroom, a 11x14 for his office, and we plan to buy photos for my mom and his parents to have as Christmas gifts to them. For the one we want for our livingroom the cost is pushing $300 :-/ so it isn't a far reach to spend the other and get all the proofs. Afterwards we took the kids into Occoquan. We did not know they where having a craft show (lol) poor Steve ... he says, "I must really love you to have photos taken with my shoes off and to come to a craft fair." lol It was a nice day. We pretty much stayed away from the craft stuff. I wasn't great crafts, much of it was very tacky, nothing I would buy for the house or myself. We walked thru the quaint streets and made our way to the Riverwalk area. We browsed the shops there and waited for the nearby restaurant to open. They had a boat that was giving 45 min river cruises so we thought after lunch we would ride on the river ... the 2 youngest really wanted to. While we waited on the restaurant to open for lunch, we walked thru the little shops in the main bulding on the riverwalk. What a gorgeous piece of architect. The girls each got a little silver ring, Gracies with a red stone, J.'s blue and Colby's green. Later in the evening Steve asked if I thought as the girls got older could the ring be resized since it was a little treasure they had gotten together and something they could share over time with great memories of a great day. Lunch was great. The restaurant we ate at was the Sea and Sea. What a hidden treasure. The food was excellent and the kids all asked if we could come back another time just to eat there. I agree. The food was great! Steve wanted me to have an oyster shooter so I stepped up to the plate and had one. Woah! One huge oyster, fresh, soaking in a shot of Vodka with lime juice, seasonings and tabasco. It was hot but it was great! I would order another on a different occassion. The bite of the spice was HOT and the burn of the vodka came a few seconds after you downed it. As we waited for our meal it was about 15 minutes later I learned the strength of that shot. My tongue went numb lol I thought I was a little tipsy which is very odd. I have never been tipsy on one shot .. maybe it was because it was on an empty stomach. After lumch we went out to the dock and sat by the river for a while and waited on the next boat ride. We spent $18 for the 5 of us for an hours entertainment. Not a bad deal considering the boat charters at $350 an hour :-/ It was nearing 3 when the ride was over and we headed back to the caravan area to get back to the truck which we left parked in the quarry and shuttled over. The kids were still stuffed from their lunches and had only some yogurt and a small dessert before we had to leave to get J. back to her mom's. It was a great day and I was exhausted. I fell asleep before 8:30 on the couch. I couldn't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried. You'll get the rest of what I can remember tomorrow ... Quotes from the Gallery (lol)

We had a "Girl's Day Out". The kids are being photographed in the morning. I took them out this morning and had their nails done. It was a treat. I had mine done and a pedicure. I haven't treated myself to a pedicure in over 6 months. OMG. I could have slept in the chair. The foot and leg massage was soooooo relaxing. I was in heaven. I did not go with my usual nail color of "Midnight Ruby Kisses". I chose something new, still in the same red color family, just slight different in shade. I am not sure if I prefer the color of the name that struck my fancy. It5 is called "I am not really a waitres." For some reason that name is just fun. I like the color. Aftr lunch, I took the girls shopping. I had promised J. that we would replace her earrings when she lost one in the truck. We went out to the mall in search of clip on earrings suitable for a young girl since she doesn't have peirced ears and is a bit undecided yet about having it done. The girls each chose 2 pair. 1 for the picture and 1 just for fun. Colby chose a lovely pair of silver chandelier earrings and a silver hair clip. Gracie chose a pair of heart posts and some long dangling pink things. J. chose a similar pair of pink dangly ones in hot pink and a pair of silver loops that do NOT look like clip ons. They were all very pleased with their choises. Next we went to Borders and the kids spent some time choosing and rechosing a book. Colby chose a book about the Kennedy White House years. Gracie chose the new Barbara Park book ... Junie B. Jones, Shipwrecked. J. chose 2 books using a gift card left over from her birthday, book 1 and 2 of the Spiderwick series. Aftr we got home and they ooh'd and ahhh's over their new things, steve and I ran to the grocer to pick up a few things for the kids. We decided to have fish for dinnr and picked up some fresh perch fillets and shrimp. We had a fried fish dinner that was quick, simple but very tastey. The kids took the dog on their usual long walk while we prepared supper. After supper it was dessert and bedtime for the younger kids. We have to be up early for the photo in the morning and I do not want any sleepy grumpy faces. It has rained the past few days and rain is predicted all weekend. I hope it clears up. I really what the kids to be photographed outdoors. I do not want formal studio pictures. We'll see what the morrow brings.

We had a "Girl's Day Out". The kids are being photographed in the morning. I took them out this morning and had their nails done. It was a treat. I had mine done and a pedicure. I haven't treated myself to a pedicure in over 6 months. OMG. I could have slept in the chair. The foot and leg massage was soooooo relaxing. I was in heaven. I did not go with my usual nail color of "Midnight Ruby Kisses". I chose something new, still in the same red color family, just slight different in shade. I am not sure if I prefer the color of the name that struck my fancy. It5 is called "I am not really a waitres." For some reason that name is just fun. I like the color. Aftr lunch, I took the girls shopping. I had promised J. that we would replace her earrings when she lost one in the truck. We went out to the mall in search of clip on earrings suitable for a young girl since she doesn't have peirced ears and is a bit undecided yet about having it done. The girls each chose 2 pair. 1 for the picture and 1 just for fun. Colby chose a lovely pair of silver chandelier earrings and a silver hair clip. Gracie chose a pair of heart posts and some long dangling pink things. J. chose a similar pair of pink dangly ones in hot pink and a pair of silver loops that do NOT look like clip ons. They were all very pleased with their choises. Next we went to Borders and the kids spent some time choosing and rechosing a book. Colby chose a book about the Kennedy White House years. Gracie chose the new Barbara Park book ... Junie B. Jones, Shipwrecked. J. chose 2 books using a gift card left over from her birthday, book 1 and 2 of the Spiderwick series. Aftr we got home and they ooh'd and ahhh's over their new things, steve and I ran to the grocer to pick up a few things for the kids. We decided to have fish for dinnr and picked up some fresh perch fillets and shrimp. We had a fried fish dinner that was quick, simple but very tastey. The kids took the dog on their usual long walk while we prepared supper. After supper it was dessert and bedtime for the younger kids. We have to be up early for the photo in the morning and I do not want any sleepy grumpy faces. It has rained the past few days and rain is predicted all weekend. I hope it clears up. I really what the kids to be photographed outdoors. I do not want formal studio pictures. We'll see what the morrow brings.