Enough already!

It snowed again today and I did some shoveling at the base of the driveway after the snowplow went through.  I cannot even find a place to PUT the snow anymore.  I know you can't really tell from this picture, but that pile of snow is at least 6 feet high.  I cannot even throw the snow up there--I have to push it up the driveway a bit and throw it towards the lawn on a pile that is still a bit shorter than this one at the end of the driveway. And we still have 2 more months of winter. Sigh....

WInter afternoon walk

Today I grabbed my camera and went outside for a walk. The sun was out and it was warm enough to take a walk to the nearby lakes and back. I think I'll make a point of taking photos on some of these walks, as it will document how the seasons change in Minnesota. You will see this spot again, I think! This corner of Lake Gervais flows under a bridge into a tiny lake called Spoon Lake (named after its shape) which flows under a highway to Keller Lake, which flows into Round Lake, which flows into Lake Phalen. Yep, that would be 5 lakes, all in walking distance.  Oh, and there's a lake that flows out of Gervais as well! Maybe in the summer I will brave taking my camera out in my kayak. (I do have some waterproof storage containers--it might work!).

Snowmobile tracks on  Lake Gervais (The larger expanse of the lake is beyond the trees.)

Dinner and a movie

Yesterday was all about fun! I made sausage tortellini soup and a nice salad and we had friends over for dinner before going out to see The King's Speech (very good!) and then out for dessert afterward.  I'm a lark, not a night-owl, so I was too tired to post last night.  This is halfway through the soup prep (and if anyone wants the recipe, let me know as it's an awesome soup--always a hit when I serve it!)

Maybe I shouldn't post this on pizza night (Friday)

Ok, I know this will bore most of you to tears, but I spend my clinic time teaching people with kidney failure how to eat low sodium.They have already ruined their kidneys with high blood pressure and we are trying to salvage the remaining function and help the blood pressure meds work better. This many years into blood pressure treatment, you would think they were taught somewhere along the line just how helpful a low sodium diet can be--but this rarely happens. (So much for "preventive medicine!")

From the NHLBI: "Those who do not have high blood pressure at age 55 face a 90 percent chance of developing it during their lifetimes. So high blood pressure is a condition that most people have at some point in their lives."  Many of us could completely avoid the hypertension (and risk of stroke, kidney failure, heart failure, heart disease...) if we didn't eat such high sodium (high salt) diets lifelong.  But I can't convince too many healthy people of this when their blood pressure is currently normal. Too much sodium (which is part of table salt) RUINS your blood vessels over the years. Today a study came across that looks at how even ONE high sodium meal affects the flexibility of your blood vessels.  (Ok, you can wake up--I'm off my soapbox now--I apologize!) 

It's warm outside!

Thermometer says it all: temps got into the 20s and the snow got all mushy and soft! No gloves needed today! ("Cold" is a relative thing.)  This is the view out of a main floor window towards our deck.  The blurred icicles in the foreground drip down from the top support of the  glider. (And yes, we have a tree growing out of our deck. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea in 1967, but now, not so much.)

Experimenting with the camera features

I spent some more time reading up on my camera and learned that I can shoot in black and white, or sepia, or with other color emphasis.  So I played around with the black and white, using as my subject a light we recently had installed in our front hall.  I love this little light, not just for its design, but because it casts such a cozy warm glow at the end of the hallway, and because I can finally see in to my coat closet!

Shopping for new glasses

Can't wear contact lenses all the time.  Today I stopped in to get some new glasses--had the girl find some that were a bit more snazzy than my old pair.  My camera came in handy. The saleswoman obligingly took pictures of each frame I tried on.  Then I could flip through the pictures and decide which pair looked best.  This pair won.

Will the snow EVER end?

I had hoped to wash my car this morning.  But when I walked back to my car after my first errand, the snow was falling.....again.  We never seem to get a break.  There is just no point in washing a car when the roads are wet.  Maybe tomorrow? (If I get to wash it, I may just make it the subject of a picture!)  Anyway, I thought the snowflakes looked kind of cool--like little white pine needles, instead of soft flakes!  I quickly took a macro. And, for those of you who think I should spend more time on these---you are absolutely right, but consider what it feels like to have your hands out in air that is only 5 degrees before you judge! :-)

Sunday Reading

Sunday is the day my husband relaxes with all the papers. If he's lucky, the mailman delivers Barron's and The Economist on Saturday, so that he has the whole weekend to browse through them. (Most of the time, though, Barron's doesn't show up until Monday or Tuesday--I am very suspicious that the postal workers choose to carry lighter loads on Saturdays...) Anyway, the coffee table is always strewn with reading material. The cat was wandering in and out of the room as I was shooting pictures--she is just heading under the table in this shot.

Our backyard, January 2011

Before the snow melts (not that there is imminent danger of that), I really needed to get out and take pictures of what the deck looks like with all the snow we have had. I should have gotten out there weeks ago--the snow depth now is actually LOWER than it originally was, because of icicle drippings that compressed it down a bit before we shoveled the roof and got rid of the ice dams. But if you look at the top of the round picnic table, I think you get the idea. Not an artistic picture--but a fun historical one for me.

Dirty cars.

It was JUST a bit on the cool side today  (-15 degrees) and there weren't quite as many people who got to the gym.  Just a few lonely cars in the lot--all of them filthy from the snow and salt.  I REALLY want to wash my car, but it's too cold right now, and it has snowed almost every day for a couple of weeks, making the roads too messy to justify washing a car. Maybe next week?

Getting organized

I stopped by to visit my oldest son today and to let him use my laptop, as his is freezing up (great timing for that, huh?) The semester just started, and he is getting himself organized for the weeks ahead. (Ah, planning calendars--I love them, but he finds them annoying--yet he needs them.) I told him that about half the recipe for success at college is just getting organized--reading instructor emails, checking due dates and planning out time for papers and studying.  I was born with the "organizing gene" but HE was born with the "creativity gene" and they are rarely both present in the same person!

Couldn't I have another lunch?

Taco (Tortilla) dinner

Warren stopped by this evening--my chance to feed him! He always seems to just want tacos when he comes over, which I feel he could do anytime himself --but which I 'm pretty sure he is NOT doing, as the boy has shown NO interest in food prep! Sad, because this is one of the simplest meals a person can make...

Snow removal has become a daily chore this winter

Well, whoever commented on how hard it is to keep up with the daily photo blogging while working was correct. It was a very busy day for me with a full clinic and no time to shoot pictures--though I did pop home at lunch and told my 17 year old son he should clear the driveway.  I snapped his picture before zipping back to work.  My husband thought it was a useful shot: "It's always good to have a picture of your teenager doing work. Maybe he can attach it to his resume!" (His tongue-in-cheek commentary on the "work ethic" of your typical teenager, who is more likely to log hours lounging and playing video games than doing chores!)

Just-washed floor

This is my view when I get to the end of washing the kitchen floor (down on my hands and knees, ya know!)  It LOOKS so great across the distance--but that is an illusion. It is constantly dirty, impossible to completely clean, and torn in spots. Whoever decided to put a white-background linoleum floor in this kitchen was nuts!  NEVER put a white floor in a kitchen! (Someday maybe I can replace it, along with the old 1960s cabinetry...)

Possible "Sign Fail"

I snapped this shot across the street from my son's house. The sun was from the wrong direction, so I was afraid the words on the wooden signs wouldn't show up in my photo. (There were actually TWO signs saying "Don't block the sidewalk" but I had to get up close to ensure that at least one sign was readable and thus couldn't fit both in the photo)  Anyway, I found some irony in it!

Distractions while searching out a study area

While at the University today, my husband and I  stopped to show our son a location where my husband logged many hours in pursuit of his engineering degree. (We are hoping Warren might also plant himself there between classes, instead of going home and getting distracted by all the fun things going on at his house!) It's a pretty cool room--very ornate and old-fashioned. Of course, on our way to the building, Warren's skateboard-radar spotted a "famous" rail.  Unless you are a skateboarder, you probably won't appreciate the perfection of this rail and its height and positioning. Anyway, today I post both the study room AND the wonderful rail! I wonder which Warren will visit most often?

Typical January day.

I spent most of the day working on the thesis--tweaking the first part of my results chapter with suggested revisions and running some more output.  I took some on-screen shots of my statistics output, which certainly represented what my day was all about. But then I started to consider whether I would be keeping the data "private" enough (even though there are no identifiers linked to the data at this point). My study involved human subjects and required IRB approval. Protection of data and subject privacy is a stipulation. Sigh...one of the downsides of posting these photos online is that you do have to consider that everything is "out there." Anyway, the  photo I am selecting  for today is one I took this morning out the window, and though it doesn't record WHAT I was doing today, it does capture the typical Minnesota January day-- cold and snowy.

An evening at the orchestra

My uncle invited me to join him for the Minnesota Orchestra performance last night.  My aunt died last summer, and they always had tickets for the orchestra and for the Minnesota Opera--so now he fishes around for people to attend with him. (His daughter doesn't share this love of classical music; otherwise I think she would go.)  Since I was very nearly a music major, this is no imposition for me! We were treated to an all-Mozart concert, including a concerto for two pianos, which was wonderful!  Anyway...the photos didn't turn out all that well, but the concert was the highlight of yesterday, so I'm posting one anyway! This is the orchestra tuning up before the piano concerto.

Dinner!

A one pan dinner of gnocchi, canellini beans, kale, tomatoes, onions, garlic and other Italian seasonings....All that's left is to add some mozzarella cheese at the last moment and watch it melt...

In the coffee shop

I went to a different Starbuck's today, down in Highland Park, in St. Paul. I love the people watching! I felt a little self-conscious, taking pictures of the people around me, so I didn't take much time setting up this shot.  Then I wandered into the adjacent Barnes & Noble and got scolded for taking pictures in there! (Can it really be against company policy to allow people to take photos in the bookstore or was she just being officious?)

New shoes.

The view out my bedroom window this morning

Yes, it's January and Jack Frost comes to paint the windows during the night!

I took a lot of photos today-- none of them captivating! I finally just took a picture of our house when we arrived home from dinner.  My son is standing at the door, impatiently calling to me to "Hurry up, I want to get in the house!"  I made my husband stop the car a few times on the way home as I tried (unsuccessfully) to capture some of the beauty of the snow-covered lake scenes at night.  Um...there isn't enough light at night--even with a flash!  The two of them have decided this is going to be a L..O..N..G year if I'm going to be taking all these "annoying"photos every day!

The view from the mezzanine of my gym. After a productive call with my thesis advisors, I visited the gym for a cardio workout (even though I'd already had a Pilates Reformer session in the morning). So...definitely a higher energy day than yesterday!

  

 Today was a very lethargic day.  I am still recovering from a cold and I had little energy.  But before I headed to the gym (for a very lackluster workout) I decided to play around with the camera in front of the mirror. I discovered I could take a picture of myself! None of the pictures turned out very well, and all of them just make me feel like I look really O..L..D.... Sigh...  (But in 20 years I'll probably think about how YOUNG I looked in this picture!)

This was taken at the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota.  The building is full of lines, angled ceilings and angled windows and is a photographer's dream for finding interesting shots.  The marble "floor" you see is actually raised up about 2 feet from the regular floor and is covered with about 1/4 inch of running water, which falls over the edge into  a narrow reservoir.  Makes for some good reflections!  My son tells me there is another of these waterfalls just like it outside--but right now it is covered with snow!

My study spot (favorite coffee shop)

This is the sunlight streaming in to the Starbuck's where I have spent MANY hours studying, since beginning my Master's degree.  I love the morning sun and the "regulars" who pass through (I have made many acquaintances and friends along the way) and, of course, I have been so regular myself that they all "know my name."  (But my drink is boring: just dark roast coffee--no fancy lattes or capuccinos!)

(To those of you with photographic skills: how could I have taken this picture better to minimize the glare of the sunlight? I am still using Auto setting on my camera.)

A selection of cookbooks from my shelf

One of the things I love to do is browse colorful cookbooks and magazines, both for new ideas and to learn more about the chemistry behind good cooking. It's not that I'm a great cook, but as a dietitian, it is only natural that I find food preparation fascinating!

 

January 1, 2011

 My first photo  posting is one that won't seem very exciting to anyone who views this. But it represents where I will be spending a lot of time over the next three months or so as I complete my Master's thesis.  This is my workspace. To be fair, I cleaned the room and organized the papers this morning.  It NEVER looks this neat while I am in the process of printing out stats results and typing up chapters!  The goal: to defend this thing by ~April so I can graduate in May!

During the course of the year, I hope to become more proficient with my nice little Canon camera and more adept at arranging this page! (For starters, I would like to know how to make the photo larger.)