You know what I love about sick days? Crappy TV/movies. I've already watched Collateral Damage (with the Governator), Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and fallen asleep. I had soup & a brownie sundae and my throat hurts like a son of a gun. Ok, so the brownie sundae wasn't to help my throat, but it was delicous and therefore worth it.

So here I am at the end of this boring day with nothing to do but continue watching Law & Order, which has now switced to Law & Order SVU. If only I could get up the strength to do somethig productive!!!

Now, more than ever, I'm really getting amped about photography. I spend my time looking at professional photos and wondering how to get those results. People primarily believe that the better the camera, the better the photos. But I can't afford a sweet digital SLR (at least not yet). So, whats a girl to do?

I found some other techniques that are less expensive than a $1000 camera.

• Lomography is the use of a relatively inexpensive camera. Some variations of the camera distort/enhance the color, while others take pictures like out of a "fish-eye".
  
• Through the Viewfinder (TTV) is the art of taking a picture through another camera's viewfinder. The contraptions are pretty crazy, but I might be able to pull it off if I can find a good old camera to use. It will probably look as ridiculous as this one.

Now I just have to try/buy some of them & take some pictures.

Today was day 2 of 3 of the Baldrige Quest for Excellence Conference. After attending some superficial and mediocre presentations, and having a delicious lunch, I decided to leave before the probably dreadful townhall session. You know what this afforded me?

Mandy time. Unadulterated time for myself.

Like I said. The life of luxury. Even though it was only a half an hour or so before I had to embark on an epic commute, it was blissful. I entered a great little photography shop and spent my time browsing the culture, color, and vibrance of the familiar and worlds I had never seen before.

I think a sigh is in order. A sweet, satisfying sigh.

Thank goodness it's Friday! As I was typing that, I thought about TGIF tv. Does anyone remember that? Boy Meets World. Corey. Topanga. Eric. Sean. Come on! TV so good you wanted to stay home and watch! (or maybe it was just me) Do they even do that anymore?

Anyways! (Sorry for the tangent) Today I'm telecommuting and my sheer lazyness is inhibiting me from turning any lights on. I'm going to justify it as going green! So, I'll just continue to sit here in the dark and type....

This week has been full of amazing adventures. Saturday I went to te Cherry Blossom Festival, then drove down to Salisbury for the Mae concert. They were aMAEzing (lol. I'm so lame.) They're songs were so heartfelt. And they, as people, were so nice. We stayed after to say hi. They were just throwing around a frisbee and having a good time. They are going to release their songs individually on I-tunes now, giving all proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. The world needs more people like them.

On Sunday, I spent the day with my wonderful mom making tons of pillows. She is so funny sometimes. It gave Dad & Joe a chance to watch Saving Private Ryan. (Ick) The pillows brightened up my sun room so much!

Monday (as if the weekend wasn't enough) I went to the O's opening day game versus the NY Yankees. I got to see my two favorite teams play ball, so really I couldn't lose. I tailgated with my family outside the Sports Legends Museum, went to Pickles Pub, got a hotdog and cotton candy, and watched a great (but slow) baseball game. You can't beat a night like that. (The O's won 10 -5)

Wednesday was Jess Morris's birthday, so we went to the National Zoo. I finally got to see a panda! The weather was beautiful & the animals all came out to greet us, or so it seemed. Plus it was great to see a friend who I rarely see. I do miss that crazy girl.

So today is Friday & I have a half day. I'm making some easter baskets after work!

So, basically, life is good. I can't wait to have many more adventures.

I've been all over MD & VA these past two weeks. Aside from my normal duty in Gaithersburg, I've attended two conferences in VA : Social Media for Government & Computers in Libraries. I've also been going all over the place with some combination of Joe, Will, and Kelly. So, it's been pretty good.

I've found that even though I spend most of my non-working time in the car, that I still really enjoy the freedom of being on the road. I like the aidea that I could just end up somewhere new and great! Get on 70 and hit St. Louis. Take 95 to Florida. Something so desperately out of the ordinary.

I am slightly bummed. The weekend after tax season, April 17-April 19, Joe & I were planning to go have fun with our long weekend. I had titled it Taxapalooza 2009. We were only going to explore some more of DC, but unfortunately his knee is in the crapper. We went to the hospital Monday, the PCP today, got an MRI & X-rays. April 16th he goes back to his orthopedic surgeon. Wish us luck. I'm praying that he doesn't need another surgery.