My tiara isn't shiny

I sound like a broken record, but I just don't know where the week has gone!  Suddenly it's Saturday again.  Crazy how that happens.

While I've had many things on my plate this week, it doesn't feel like I've gotten much accomplished. I mean, I know I really have because I love making lists for the sheer satisfaction of ticking stuff off of and then gleefully balling up or shredding said lists before tossing them into the garbage can. It's not only cathartic but since some of my To Do Items aren't really tangible, it's concrete proof I haven't just been away in Fantasyland all week. So I totally know I've actually done meaningful stuff.

Yes, I would rather be a Princess eating bon-bons (actually, I'm not exactly clear what a bon-bon is, but it's what the pampered & precious are meant to eat, they say...) and watching my dedicated highly trained Tiara Shining Staff shine my tiaras, but that just ain't happening this week. Again.

So what have I been up to that has kept me away from reporting the thrilling minutiae of my life? Let's see, I've been working in the dive shop, out shooting sessions, working on print orders, editing and preparing images for clients, doing some accounts, tidying up some other projects and trying to keep my sanity as the lovely native birds chirp, chirp, frickin chirp incessantly outside my office window.

You'd think with three cats and two dogs that our backyard would be a bird-free zone, but it's exactly the opposite. I think every bird in Exmouth comes to hang out in our backyard. I've seen them eat out of the cat's bowl and hang out on the same chair one of the cats is sleeping in. Our cats are clearly not Great Hunters of the Cape.

I've also been playing with the new baby camera. All the images in this post (bar the trio of the bird above, which was with the Canon 100-400L IS mounted on my 1DIII) are with it and I'm having a ball. I love that I can slip it into the pocket of my shorts and I don't even feel it. The Fur Kids are thrilled that I have a new toy

Both Dora and MatildaLily have a thing for plants, though Til is the only one that chooses to also destroy them

The Girls have decided that the couch is once again fair game as long as we aren't physically in the living room. Dora at least has the decency to pretend that she doesn't see us when we come in & does a big production of ignoring us then being all surprised when we tell her to move. Tilly however acknowledges that we are there, but doesn't care.

I've only gotten a couple of sneak peeks up on my Exmouth wedding & portrait photography blog (Kristin Anderson Photography) - one baby photo and one wedding photograph - but I hope to get at least one full post up there this weekend so make sure to check it out.

There's also an underwater post there with some eels and you can see the full eel post that actually has eel info over at our dive shop blog Exmouth Diving Centre.

We have been going down to the beach a few nights when it isn't blowing 700mph. We've had the suckiest, windiest six or so weeks that we can remember. It's really put a crimp in our beach outings. But hopefully the weather is changing for the better. We're all sick to the teeth of the wind.




I am loving my new boots. I can go anywhere, over anything, through fairly deep water & my feet stay safe and dry. Here's the world's dorkiest photo of me in my boots...the water here comes up to almost the tops, I swear. And, yes, my white socks & the angle are kind of reminiscent of Sponge Bob Squarepants.

We went out to see the dead whale last night. It's pretty deflated and it now rolled up on the beach, slowly decomposing. Probably would have been faster to leave it to nature, but that's not really how some government departments do stuff, so, whatever.


As we were driving along the beach - me chanting an anti-bogging chant & Dave grimly forcing our Land Cruiser not to sink deep into the sucky sand coz this section of beach is really treacherous - we saw one of those things that just make you stop and wonder. A cell phone, trashed and just sitting there. It's like the lone shoe you always see as you drive along the freeway. Do people not realise they lose these things?

When we got home, I had to rescue a little lizard guy from the pets' water dish. No, I wasn't brave enough to touch it - I just dumped all the water out on the ground. Turns out, these little lizards don't really do so well with that method and it took the little blighter a few minutes to hack up the water he'd just been forced to ingest, but he was fine. Really.

I'm still plodding along on my new path of trying to be a little better to myself. I've been Coke free for about a month and I'm not craving it unless I'm having a really down day - which, thankfully, have been fewer and not quite as down-down since I started on my life changes. But I haven't caved. I'm saving myself for the joyful caffeine and sugar rush I'm going to get the next time I have a Barq's Rootbeer - oh, man, that's gonna hit me like a freight train and I can't wait! I may still have some issues ;)

Dave and I are doing lots better about making meals at home and I think he's enjoying cooking a little bit again. I hope so coz he used to have such a passion for it and he's awesome at creating the yummiest stuff. My skills are still at just past cereal & milk level, but I can make a mean veggie intensive pizza...it must be almost lunchtime