October 2009 - Page 2 of 5 - Angry Julie Monday

Sunday Afternoon Car Shows

October 26, 2009

Yesterday, my parents took Angry Toddler to a car show at our local Ford dealership. Actually, they had a car entered in the show. My first car, well technically my second, was a 1966 Ford Mustang. This was my car, since the first car I had was a hand-me-down. When I was in high school, my parents were very involved in the car show scene. I got dragged to them every weekend. They have a 1956 Ford Thunderbird also. Well, they still have my their Mustang. They occasionally put the Mustang in shows still. The car show was hosted by the Orange County Mustang Club. I headed over there for a little bit and took some pictures, cause that’s what I do. Of course, I did not take any full pictures of our car. Cause I’m lame like that and the sun was beaming on it, creating havoc with my camera.

My dad told me to take a picture of this car. I think he’s a tad obsessed.

Shiny new cars. Aren’t they pretty! Just a little advertising for the dealership.

Angry Toddler and my parent’s car. He’s “Jango Fett”.

Target practice?

Angry Toddler was “shooting” at this.

And at the end of the day, I picked Angry Toddler from my mom’s house. He shouted this from the backseat, “Momma, I won twenty bucks in the costume contest. You need to take me to Target and buy me some toys.” Ahhh, I’m soo proud! He won first place! But seriously, proper English child, it’s twenty dollars!

Filed Under: Holidays, Orange County, Parenting 5 Comments

The Pumpkin Patch, Then and Now

October 26, 2009

We’ve gone to a local Pumpkin Patch with my best friend, Stacey, and her daughter, Stella, since the kids were about a year and a half old. Angry Toddler and Stella are two months apart. Looking at the pictures, you would think there was a bigger age difference between them, but there’s not. Stella just has extremely long legs. You can’t tell from this year’s picture, but she’s several inches taller than angry Toddler. I took a million pictures last week when we went to the Pumpkin Patch. But I really, there are million “patch” pictures on the blogs this week. I thought I would you show you our little tradition. Oh, and Stacey and I compared the kiddos from that time.

2006-The kids would not sit still. They wanted to explore everything. They loved the train ride.
2007-The kids were umm, bitchy. They refused the train ride and cried.
2008-The did not want to sit still, again. They did not want to be bothered with pictures. They wanted us to buy every pumpkin. They rode the train, but wanted to climb out.
2009-The kids posed for our pictures. They wanted to ride the train. They wanted to ride the train, multiple times. They sat together, without us.

THEN

NOW

Filed Under: Holidays, Parenting 3 Comments

Canned Pumpkin Shortage

October 24, 2009

In my attempt to be a better wife, yea right, I want to bake some things this weekend. I have several recipes that are “Fall” themed. Many of them require canned pumpkin. Well it’s buzzing around that there’s a huge canned pumpkin shortage. Yikes! Of course, things like this always happen when I’m involved. I try and attempt to bake, and my ingredients are being held captive.
So wish me luck! I’m going to try and scout out some canned pumpkin today, another other random things on my to-do list.

Oh, here’s more articles about the canned pumpkin shortage:
Washington Times
LA Times
Saveur

And Libby’s has some awesome recipes on their site, if you can get yourself a can of the Holy Grail, canned Pumpkin.

*UPDATE: I found some canned pumpkin this weekend at a local grocery store. It’s starting to show up here in Orange County. But there was only a small amount.

Filed Under: Holidays, In The Home 8 Comments

The Boots

October 23, 2009

Angry Toddler and I went to dinner with my parents last night. He was a busy little bee, which in real life, I would tell you, he was obnoxious. Luckily, we just went to a casual place, Wahoo’s, to be exact. My dad wanted to watch the Angels’ game, and well, I wanted to eat. After dinner, we headed to the pet store, where Angry Toddler wanted to bring home several cats and dogs. We settled on some fancy dog treats for Bruiser and Wolfie.

We saw that the outdoor ice skating rink was almost open. Angry Toddler wanted to go skate. I already have a visual of this event in my head. My visual consists of me with holes in my jeans and covering Angry Toddler with lots of bandaids.

But then, he wanted to go to Nordstrom. My dad gave my mom that look, and she shrugged. Angry Toddler has been going to the mall since he was a baby. He loves Nordstrom.

Well, of course, he couldn’t miss these shiny and yet, beautiful Batman Rainboots. Aren’t they pretty? Nana and Papa gave in. They bought him the boots. I was trying to ignore the whole situation while looking at purses. And FYI, there were no good purses. Angry Toddler proudly marched around Nordstrom with the boots, and we were on our way.

I got the third degree from Angry Husband this morning about leaving the boots out. Umm, he should know our child better. If I would have hid the boots, Angry Toddler would have thrown a fit looking for them. So Angry Toddler went to preschool in his shorts and rainboots. Of course, he was the coolest kid in class. Angry Husband brought his tennis shoes for later. And even better, it’s supposed to be 85 degrees today.

P.S. I’m not really a sports fan, but YAY! The Angels Won!!!

Filed Under: Parenting 6 Comments

How I Edit My Photos

October 22, 2009

I have a little secret to share with everyone. Yes, I use a Nikon D60 DSLR camera. I love this camera, but it’s the smaller DSLR version. I used to have a D70 and I use a D80 at work. But really my secret is….the I shoot in program or automatic. I know, I know…all this fancy equipment and I don’t utilize it. Really, I don’t have time to mess with my camera. I have way too many things going on. I should probably take a class or something. Everyone I know who’s in the photography biz, uses Canon. I have nothing against Canon, but we use Nikon’s at work, so that’s why I use Nikon at home.

But how do I do all these really awesome things with my camera? Well they are awesome to me! I usually have a third person with me, when I’m out and about with Angry Toddler. He’s just moving way too fast, and I can’t take that many pictures when it’s just the two of us. So I’m able to focus more on the picture, and what I want from it. I also take pictures when I’m by myself. All my Wordless Wednesday Disney Pictures, were mostly taken when it was just my mom and I on a recent trip to Disneyland. I was able to focus on the awesomeness of Disneyland; the lights, the buildings, the food, and of course the characters.

I use an online program, called Picnik, to edit my photos. It is free, but you can upgrade your membership to have more options. I have an upgraded membership. I’m going to show you some cool stuff that I did with Picnik. If you read my blog enough, you see that I like to round the corners of my photos. That is actually a frame from Picnik.

The Original Photo

Playing With Some Colors.

Using Some Halloween Techniques.

Seriously this is so easy to use. Plus it does not edit the original photo. You can always go back to the original. I love it. And my favorite part, since it’s not computer software, you can edit your photos from any computer with Internet access.

Filed Under: Photography 5 Comments

Late Night TV Watching

October 22, 2009

I was up late last night, because I had a soda way too late. I had to watch “Glee”, of course. I’m quite obsessed with that show. I know that I’m not the only one, because everyone was talking about it on Twitter last night. I was on the couch, and Angry Toddler was snoring in my ear. I was too involved with Glee to move him.

After Glee was over, my TV automatically popped over to “Toddlers and Tiaras”. Yes, I DVR it. I like a good trainwreck every now and then. That’s why I watch this show. I usually don’t have time to watch it, before it somehow gets deleted, but I was up. I think this was the most obnoxious episode ever. Parents were throwing a fit, because their daughters weren’t doing the moves and gestures that they wanted them too. The Pageant Moms were getting pissed if another mom helped their child. Everyone was just plain ole’ bitchy. They (the moms) say that they all do this because their daughters want to, and if they (the daughters) want to quit, they can. But these moms, and even some dads looked like they were WAY too involved in all of this. $900-$1500 for a dress? Yea, it makes me thankful that I have a boy, and we don’t do “activities” like this.

And since, I was still up. I watched two episodes of “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant”. I just watched all these women, in awe. Seriously, how could you not know. I’m sorry, but I knew I was definitely pregnant at four weeks. And even though, I was chunky, and had lost over fifteen pounds during my pregnancy, there was no doubt I was pregnant. The one woman came into the hospital and complained of pains. The baby slid down her pant leg. I think that was one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen. Yet, I keep watching.

Oh, yea, I have a ton of stuff on my DVR, but I sacrificed some of my usual programs for this. Now I know why I don’t stay up late and watch random stuff on TV. Because it’s just plain random.

Filed Under: Just Julie 5 Comments

Review: New Kodak Photo Gallery

October 21, 2009

Did you know that November 1st, the day after Halloween is the busiest photo upload day of the year?

I didn’t either. I attended a webinar last week for the preview of the NEW Kodak Gallery with Jill Zarin, from the Real Housewives of New York. Kodak re-developed and re-vamped their already awesome website with some new features.

We were able to view some of Kodak’s New Products online and their Gallery interactively. We watched the webinar, listened to the conversation via phone, and also participated on Twitter using the hashtag #NewKodakGallery.

What’s New?
*Faster Creation
*Up to 3x Faster Image Upload
*Drag and Drop Photo Sharing
*Rich, Customizable Slideshow
*Premium and Professional Print Options
*Hundreds of Fresh Designs and Layouts

I’ve used the Kodak Gallery for years. I love that you can do products online and get them delivered to your house. You can also have them sent to other addresses as gifts. I have even picked up prints that I ordered online at local stores.

Did you know that you can view your Kodak Gallery on your iPhone?

And the best part? 4×6 prints are only 9 Cents!!!
(The 9 cent print price does not apply to same-day pick-up)

Disclaimer: This post was a review of Kodak’s New Gallery Launch. I participated in an online conference call to learn more about their products and website. The photos were provided by Kodak. I was not paid to do this post. I’m an avid fan of photography and love hearing about new products.

Filed Under: Photography, Reviews Leave a Comment

What’s Open Twenty Four Hours?

October 21, 2009

With the sick season coming on strong right now, it might be nice to know a few places locally…that are open twenty-four hours a day..

I experienced this last week. I went to the urgent care at 8am. I had a prescription to fill after. Every pharmacy that the doctor wanted to fax the prescription to, was open at 10am. I had to be at work before 10am. Luckily, I remembered one pharmacy that was open 24 hours, a day.

So if you don’t have kids, and if you do…have this list handy!

Local Resources

1. 24 Hour Pharmacies
2. 24 Hour Grocery Stores
3. Drive-Thru Pharmacies
4. Grocery Stores that Deliver
5. Food Places that Deliver

Phone Numbers (Put In Your Cellphone Too)

1. 911
2. Doctor and/or Pediatrician
3. Poison Control
4. Local Hospitals (Some Hospitals are very busy right now, you might want to call ahead)
5. Pharmacy
6. Dentist
7. Veterinarian (Animal Emergencies)
8. AAA or Towing Company
9. Mechanic
10. A List of Babysitters for Emergencies

Photo from Google Images.

Filed Under: In The Home, Just Julie, Parenting 13 Comments