Hrm . . . how did these ever slip by me?  Very good question.  Well, I suppose late is better than never, or so they say, right?

This isn’t the best picture of a dragonfly that I have taken, but I really did love his color.  I chased him around for  a good ten minutes before he decided to sit long enough for me to get this picture.  I tried getting closer, but he kept flittering away like I was scary or something.  The nerve of some dragonflies!

If it is purple, I might take a picture. If it is purple and happens to be a flower, I must take a picture.  This little flower reminds me of a picture I took at the Wanshi Botanical Garden in Xiamen, China, way back when, but it isn’t quite as frightening. Still pretty, though.

My camera may be awesome, but it wasn’t quite as awesome as I needed it to be in order to capture this little guy in complete focus.  There were a bunch of lizards out and about that day, but he seemed especially interested in the Canon I had hanging around my neck.  Had I not hear him scurrying underneath the leaves, I seriously doubt I would have ever seen him.  He almost blends in perfectly with tree.

Once upon a time, I used to take pictures of benches, and I had this crazy idea that I was going to make a coffee table book entitled, Bitch’n Benches and Some Pretty Flowers.  Like many of my ideas, he never took off, and I never made my coffee table book.  I still take pictures of benches, though, just in case.

Even though spiders freak me out, I love taking pictures of them.  I love looking at and admiring them, but the instance they touch me – all bets are off!  I have an awful habit of getting too close when I try to use my macro lens. On more than one occasion my lens has touched the spider or the web, and well, I might as well have petted them when that happens because I always instantly transform into Little Miss Muffet and start screaming as I aim for the hills.  Spiders are beautiful, but I hate each of the eight freaky legs!

Popularity: 1%

Quantum is a very inquisitive, destructive beast.  You have to watch him very carefully when he’s out if his cage.  If it can be chewed, he chews it.  He has more or less destroyed each and every one of our books on our bookshelf, especially if it has anything to do with China. You should see what he has done to my purple folder that contains a lot miscellaneous paperwork from when we were teachers in China.  It doesn’t even look like a folder anymore.  I don’t know why he likes to chew so much.  I don’t think Countess chews like he does.  Maybe it is a guy thing or something.

He also likes to grab things and take off with them, too.  I constantly find things that he has hidden in the couch.  One day, I found a USB device that he had taken.  Sometimes he really reminds me of a monkey, especially when he throws his food around.  He is such a silly guy.

The following video is of craptastic quality, but what can you expect of any camera in a dim room?  Because Quantum and Countess are nocturnal, we have to keep the lights turned down low.  We don’t want to hurt their eyes.  Also, a portion of the video is upside down.  I didn’t know it was filming like that when I first picked up the iPhone.  And lastly, sorry for the expletive that Phil uses.  You would probably yell too if a Sugar Glider clamped down on your finger.  They may have little teeth, but it hurts like the dickens!

Popularity: 4%

It isn’t written in stone yet or anything, so I can’t go into detail about it,  and I have been specifically told not to get excited, but I can be completely vague by giving some strange countdown until the event in question occurs or doesn’t.  Hehe.

T-minus 13 months!

In other news, life is pretty normal.  Phil and I have been looking for houses, made a couple offers, but still haven’t found the house that truly speaks to us.  If we made more money or won the lottery, which of course we would need to play in order to win, there are plenty of houses out there that would be glad to have full fledged conversations with us.  Perhaps one of these days we will find what we’re looking for.  Did you just hear that song in your head, too? 

The furbutts(Sugar Gliders) are doing fine.  Quantum is as sweet as pie and has bonded to us, but his girlfriend, Countess, is a complete whore bag.  She is always trying to bite us and run into places she isn’t supposed to go, ie the stove.  I will give her some credit though.  She has gotten a little better than when we first got her.  I’m hoping that in time that she becomes more like Quantum, but I’m not going to hold my breath or anything.

Work is work.  I’m now in the Benefits Office if I haven’t mentioned it already.  I was moved out of the Employment Office due to budget cuts and lack of work. I’m just glad I still have a job.  It is going to take some time to learn everything, but I guess that is how all new jobs are.

Our garden attempt this year has more or less failed.  We still have some plants in the spare bedroom, but I have a feeling we are never going to get around to planting them outside.  If we do, it will be too late and they will never produce anything worth eating.  Oh, well.  There is always next year.

Speaking of next year, the Braves are sorta sucking it up.  I know it isn’t even the second half of the season yet, and that anything can happen, but if they continue to play the way that they are (of course, they would blank out the NY Yankees as I write this), then I don’t expect an extended October.

Okay, well, I promised I would blog again one day, so here it is.  I’ll start looking for old videos and pictures, as well as trying to write more about my present life.  I used to have time to blog more, so I know the time exists.  I guess I just have to try harder.

Popularity: 5%