five things, june 14 edition

1. I think I fall in love with my 100mm macro more every day. I know I've mentioned how much I love my Thursday Morning Photo Group (We thought about coming up with a catchy name, but every time someone brought it up, the conversation devolved into something pretty silly. Like the Crappy Snappers.) (I actually just came up with that. None of us are crappy snappers.) (Seriously.) Anyhow. Chatting yesterday got me psyched about a whole new lens possibility, AND Jackie told me that if I adjust my aperture to f8.0, then I'll hit the sweet spot on my depth of field and be really happy. Turns out, she was totally right. This picture is perhaps not the best way to judge, but trust me. And hello? Banana bread.

2. I think I totally screwed up and thought Father's Day here in the US was next weekend not this weekend. Oops. Cue mad scrambling. I could write a long gushy post about what a great dad I have and what a great dad I married, but I'll save that for maybe Monday, how about.

3. I think, speaking of Monday, that I can't believe Neel leaves for Greece on Monday. Poor Neel, all that Greek food. The littletiniest part of me wishes we were traveling with him for this leg, but we have beaches here, we have a pool here, we don't have riots and teargas in nearby Turkey here. I know, I know, our beaches and pool are nothing like what Neel will get to experience, but I'm fine with staying here for a bit, given where we're headed afterwards.

4. I think we didn't do the best job at our first week of Summer Vacation. I have yet to get you my bucket list, and I have yet to go to the beach. We were BUSY this week. Dang. Fear not. We'll get to the beach (I know you were worried.), and I'll have that bucket list up next week.

5. I think I'd like little more than to sit in an air conditioned house and edit photos. Sounds weird, doesn't it? My 365 is SO behind. Not the taking, but the editing, and I just need to buckle down and get some stuff done. But this weekend? Not so much, I fear. Neel needs to decide what he wants to do for Father's Day (he's already listed restaurants for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!), but Saturday. Hmmmm... Saturday is wide open. What fun do you guys have on tap?

five things, june 7 edition

 1. I think I can't believe that we're kicking off summer vacation under a tropical storm warning. If you know me at all, you know I get a secret thrill out of this (I love me some hurricane tracking.), but where are our beach days? Where is our trip to the pool? All in good time, I'm sure, but in the meantime, you can find me here and wringing out my sneakers.

2. I think I've been frazzled and vaguely unproductive all week. Me no likey. Cal's exam schedule totally threw me off (dismissal at 11AM can do that to me), and I've never been completely sure what day it was. I know it's going to take us awhile to get into the rhythm of summer vacation (post Tropical Storm Andrea), but I need to be able to pull out of my mini-funk. Any suggestions?

3. I think I need to get my act in gear about a lot of things including this trip we have coming up. The things we have to get ready, I can't even. Can someone step in and take care of me, please? Scattered. How pathetic is that.

4. I think I know we need to do a summer bucket list. We've done them in the past, and even though we rarely cross everything off the list (!), it's a good way to frame all the things we want to do. Like bike rides. And ice cream. And beach trips. We joined our local pool (after years of much debate), and I anticipate many days and evenings there as well. I'll be working a lot this summer, but at fun stuff mostly. Summer should be fun mostly, shouldn't it?

5. I think I'll have things more in hand next week. Fingers crossed. Once the rain moves out (And wouldn't you know, Callum has to pick up his exam grades, so we have to drive in this mess today.), we have a nice weekend planned. What are you guys up to? We have a quiet night tonight but dinner with some friends tomorrow. We were going to grill chicken, but now Neel and I are leaning toward a dumpling-making party. What do you think, Jackie? Fun/no fun? We haven't done one in ages, and it's kind of like dinner theater! And on Sunday I might go shopping! Because, really the most important thing I can do to get ready to leave the country and meet my friends in London is get some new clothes.