Day 65-67: Thankful, yet still a stressball.

So the day 65 and 66 posts do not have a picture. Why? Because I'm a dummy and forgot to put my memory card in my camera. I didn't realize my memory card wasn't in my camera until we made it to Borrego Springs, CA, which is about 1.5 hours away from our apartment. YAAAAAY. Let me tell you what, I had a mild nervous breakdown in the desert, followed by a painful headache all because of a dumb memory card. I bawled out in the middle of nowhere, in a town that had fewer stores than RV camping locations. Poor Tony. He did his best to ask around to perhaps buy a cheap card, but the best we could do was a $5 dollar disposable camera from the Middle-of-Nowhere-Mart. Dang, y'all. I need to calm down.

Nevertheless, I wrote descriptions of the pictures that I took--yet never saved to my memory card. The missing picture for day 65 is probably the most painful out of the whole bunch.

Day 65:

It's official---Tony got a new (much better) job! In this downward spiraling economy, we were really losing hope that Tony would not be able to move away from his current position to something better and more challenging. But, right as we hit the breaking point (on so, so many levels), God intervened, and Tony was offered not one but TWO jobs on the same day. I don't know if they'll have different hours than right now (though, I've been selfishly praying that they do---I feel like if I have to wake up at 3:50 A.M. for the entirety of my graduate career, I'll be knocking years off of my life), but the position is much more prestigious, and it will challenge Tony.

Friday he was so happy, and it did my heart so good to see him that way. He was chatty--talking about everything: cars (his fave topic), music, his new position, his old position, stories about basic training, why he wants to go back into the military as an officer, among other things. Normally, he's a pretty quiet fellow, and I'm the one talking. I probably won't ever forget that day, even though I don't have a picture of his smiling face to show for it.

Day 66:

Saturday = science in the morning, God in the afternoon.

I did take a photo of Poway lit up at night from the road of a neighboring mountain (Poway is in a valley). It was gorgeous, yet I have nothing to show for it. Sigh-o-rama.

Day 67:

I am way too hard on myself. My cry in the desert was necessary, though. It was a build up of months of sleep deprivation, and self-criticism. I just could not believe I screwed up something so simple as a memory card. Tony, of course, was patting my back, probably thinking "What in the...?" He did save the day by thinking out of the box and buying a cheap-o disposable camera. I knew the photos would not be nearly as good as if I had my real camera, but I dried my tears and went to work.

All of the pictures were over-exposed, but it gave me a chance to work on my Photoshop skills, which is always something I look forward to improving.

For example, here is a straight-out-of-the-camera shot of the mountains in the Borrego badlands:

And here is my edited version:

The edit darkened the washed out (over-exposed) foreground of the photo, and darkened the blue of the sky (the same as using a circular polarizing filter on a lens).

Here's a photo of Tony and me, after my cry-face finally faded away. Sigh.

I like being out in the middle of nowhere--it makes me feel so small. The sanctuary of the desert is amazing. The various birds and bugs are harmonizing, and everything is very still. I wish that I could experience the stillness I felt there all of the time. It makes me joyful for simply existing.

What's that, Wild Bill Hiccup? You want to see an old-timey picture? Hmm...I'll see what I can do...

Well, if you've made it this far in the post, you deserve to be left with a treat. Here's a picture of Tony wearing my sunglasses, making a disgusted face while I plant one on him. I just wanted to leave you with excellence.