Happy Birthday to Me!

Well before my birthday, I had sent out a mass email Birthday "Wish List" which consisted of two things: 1. money, and 2. Best Buy gift cards. The intent was to gather enough birthday money (and, soon, Christmas money) to afford a nice camera for taking professional-quality photos.

After one birthday celebration--a delightful breakfast at Crest Cafe with C's family-- I am well on my way toward that goal. Her family is extremely generous. One more celebration, with my very own family, remains, to be scheduled for next weekend. I think I'll host a barbecue for them, er, I mean, for myself. And they will be invited to attend. Well. You know what I mean.

Me in the Medical Industry? Maybe

I never imagined I would ever consider joining the medical industry, yet here I am with an appointment to tour a campus on Wednesday. I'll be the first to admit that I could never, ever be a doctor or nurse. On the other end of the spectrum, medical billing sounds horribly boring and repetitive.

But while looking at vocational schools (which I find much more appealing than taking math and speech and any number of other general education courses to get a degree), I took note of the pharmacy tech position. Not only is it an important role in the medical industry, but it seems to have enough elements involved to keep it interesting.

I can see myself doing it, and, more importantly, enjoying it. I do like working on a team to achieve a common goal.

The world will always need pharmacy techs, and I like that stability. I have yet to assess the current availability of positions, but the pay is better than I will probably ever make at my current job.

I have concerns about being able to balance school and work; having schedule limitations is basically frowned upon at my job.

But taking a tour is not a commitment. I look at it as opening a door and peeking inside before deciding to enter. Maybe I'll find that a pharmacy tech position doesn't interest me, after all. But I have to try. I need a career, not a job.

Labor Day Barbecue

In a twist of fate, we are yet again hosting a barbecue. I don't mind. In fact, I enjoy it. I love to share our home with family and friends. But it is rather exhausting. When the last person has left, we usually drop ourselves on the sofa with a Whew!

It will be much better when we have the back yard fixed up and can sit outside and enjoy the warm-but-not-too-warm summer nights. As it is, I am very mildly embarrassed about the state of the back yard. But we inherited that from the previous owners; it's through no fault of ours.

I have, in fact, slightly improved the back yard. The rusty swing set is finally down, and the grass is greener albeit still patchy in areas. Now I just need to mow it before everyone comes over tomorrow evening.

New Hobby

It's a lazy Saturday morning. Acid jazz is relaxing my ears. Agatha has her class this afternoon. She needs a bath. But here I am finally blogging again. And what better to blog about than my new hobby.

It's something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager. Even back then, I loved antique stores. And every antique store has a box of what I am now collecting: vintage photographs. We're not talking celebrity portraits or even vintage art. We're talking old family photos, portraits, snapshots.

For now, my interest is broad. Any old picture will do. But I've already considered narrowing my search. It dawned on me last night as I was bidding on photos that a collection of vintage photos with dogs in them would be very cool. I have yet to successfully win any of those, but I've snatched up some nice portraits.

I should note that though this sounds like an expensive hobby, many items can be found on eBay for just 99¢. And if I limit my collection to pictures with dogs, it would prevent me from building an expensive, gigantic collection with no focus. As I collect new photos, expect to see them here.

As an offshoot of this new hobby, I intend to use the photos in digital art. I love tweaking photos artistically, and using vintage photos as a resource is most appealing. Expect to see my artwork here, as well.

Agatha is smelling doggy. We don't want to embarrass her in her class, so it looks like it's bath time!

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