Marvelous Weekend

Hola and is it really Monday already? Where does the weekend go?

We had a marvelous weekend (except for the part when Michael and Carolyn called to see how the dogs were doing -- ooopppppsss was I supposed to feed them and let them out for a potty break?????)!

My soon (June 19th) to be daughter-in-law Emily received her Master in Education degree from Midwestern State University on Saturday.  She has worked so hard on this and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments!

BTW Emily had a 4.0!!!!!

Em getting ready to walk the stage

To make this day even more special,  our good friend Michael Bernhardt was appointed to the Board of Regents this March -- and was able to hand Emily her diploma!  Thank you Mike!

Em receiving her diploma from Mike.

Em's parents had a graduation celebration party later that evening at their house.  They were celebrating Em's, her brother Matthew's and her cousin Jessica's graduation (high school, college).  Emily has a wonderful, loving family and I always enjoy being with them!

Nick and Emily

Sometime during all  the graduation fun, we ran by Hastings to pick up Twice Broken's (Nick plays bass) new CD.  You can't imagine how excited I was.   If you live in Wichita Falls -- go by Hastings and pick one up (you will love it)!

The group will be heading to the Hard Rock Hotel - Las Vegas this week to participate in a battle of the bands on Saturday.  If you just happen to be in Las Vegas Saturday, please go to the Hard Rock and cheer them on!!!!!

To top off this marvelous weekend -- I finally got around to doing something with the fresh asparagus I bought the week before!!!!  I decided that soup sounded delish -- so I got busy and whipped some up.

After the fact, I sat down and typed out what I think I put in the pot!!!!  I think it's pretty close.  The soup came out extra creamy (could be because I churned that puppy up in the food processor until it was light and airy) and extra dreamy (hence the name of my creation)!  If you have a hankering for some asparagus soup -- give this one a shot! 

Well -- that winds up the weekend!  I hope your weekend was marvelous too!

Have a great week!

:<} Frances

Cold, dark, damp, Saturday

Hola friends and family. What a week! Rain, rain, and more rain. Cold, colder temps. Gray, grayer skies.

Grab a soda or a cup of coffee -- this post is a little wordy!

Here's a little ranting and raving over my local computer techs. As you might know, I had a computer failure last week after taking it to a local shop to see if they could retrieve some picture files I deleted. The owner was unable to retrieve any pictures -- so I went home, turned the puppy on -- and had weird error messages left and right. I called the guy up and he told me to do a few things -- but none of them worked. I did download a program and retrieved a number of my deleted pics.

The weird error messages persisted until Monday -- when the computer just went beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Then -- NADA!!!!!

So, I took my baby in to another local computer store -- and left it in what I thought were very capable hands. Remember, this is Monday. They told me it would take a couple of hours to run diagnostic tests -- and would call me when it was completed. By Wednesday, I am panicking -- because I hadn't received a phone call.

About noon on Wednesday, I called and found out that they had already diagnosed the problem (probably on Monday) and that my computer was still under warranty with HP -- and to call HP. Oh, the problem they said was that I had a mother board failure (huuuummmmm -- what is that???). Hey, has anyone ever heard of calling the customer back? If I hadn't called on Wednesday -- would my computer still be there?????

OK -- so I'm at least a little excited that my computer is under warranty and all I have to do is call HP and arrange for the shipping of my computer to HP. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh - not so fast grasshopper, must learn patience!

I call HP and told the very nice tech (Brian) what the 2nd computer tech told me -- and that I needed to send it to them for repair.

Brian then explained to me that he was going to walk me through the HP diagnosis procedure first (I was like WHY???? I've already had it looked at by professionals - fume, fume, fume, flames exploding out my ears!!!!!).

Brian stayed calmed, walked me through small tasks, taking my computer apart, moving things in and out, taking the memory boards out and putting them back, and finally, putting it all back together again. I am now a bonafide computer tech (well, in my own mind I am).

I plug all the cables and wires into the computer and now a drum roll pleasssseee! I gingerly pressed the power button, and voila! My computer started up just like in the good ole days! There was no stinking mother board failure! Brian told me that one of the previous guys probably didn't quite get something back into my computer just right! AAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!

So, what's a girl to do when she can't find a good computer tech in town?????? I mean, what if it wasn't under warranty, would they have said it was a mother board failure -- charged me for a new mother board -- and all it was, was making sure everything had been put back in place right?

Well, at least I have Brian at HP to thank! It did take us two hours to go through the process -- but I had a great outcome!

Ok - my hissy fit has now subsided and I can get on with life!

Because it has been such a gloomy, gray week -- I went back through old pictures on my old computer and found pictures I took of the YWCA (which was torn down this year).

Really folks -- never sweat the small stuff! Keep focused on what is good in your life and those God has blessed you with to call family and friends!

I hope all of you have a beautiful weekend!

;} Frances

Click on Images to Enlarge.

Eating Bon Bons all day!

Click on image to enlarge.

Whenever I run into a former co-worker or old friend - I usually get asked "what are you up to these days?. My answer -- eating bon bons all day!

Not really. After 20 some odd years in the banking industry, I've made a huge change in careers. I spend the majority of my time doing interior/exterior real estate photography. Of course, it helps tremendously having connections (Rick). I'm still honing my craft -- trying to absorb everything I see in print or on the web.

I really love photography -- but miss seeing my work mates and customers on a daily basis. Alas, it's all about give and take.

Here's a few interior/exterior real estate photographs from my portfolio.

Cheers to bon bons and hump day (Wednesday)!

:) Frances

Click on images to enlarge.

Vanishing Point in Photoshop

Original photo with light poles and sign


Using the vanishing tool (maybe 3 minutes tops)


Old school using the clone stamp, cut and paste and layers




I've always known that the vanishing point filter was in Photoshop -- but never took the time to understand its purpose. Duh, I could kick myself. I've been removing distractions from real estate photos the hard way (clone tool, cut and paste, layers, etc...). While at the Red Cross yesterday, I decided to check out one of my favorite websites and look at their tutorials. Since the computers at the Red Cross don't have sound, I made a mental note of the videos I'd like to see (and listen to) later.

This morning, I finally went back to the website to watch and listen. Vanishing point is amazing!!!!! I've posted a R/E photo that I took and the client later asked if I could remove the light pole and signs. I did so, but did it the hard way. I pulled up the same picture today -- and using the vanishing tool was able to remove the light pole in less than 3 minutes. This little area probably would have taken me at least 3 to 4 times longer doing it my old way.

Check out this video from Photo Answer if you'd like to see what an amazing and easy tool this is. If you'd like to search their website for Photoshop Elements & CS4, Photography and other tutorials, click on today's title (Vanishing Point in Photoshop).

Rick is treating me to a concert tonight (Andrea Bocelli) in Dallas. We saw him in Las Vegas last year -- and he is amazing!

I hope all of you will have an amazing weekend!

Love Frances