naptime.

You guys. YOU GUYS. The past couple of weeks have been nuts. Our power finally came back on in the middle of the night after being out for three days due to the hurricane. I am currently exhausted right now and heading to bed - but I wanted to share this picture of Jane, who is asleep in a chair in my office at work. There is a story to go with this. And I will share that, after I get a million hours of sleep.

the itsy-bitsy spider

This is a terrible picture - but check out the size of this spider on my back deck! I think he wants to come in for the duration of the storm.

rock you like a hurricane.

I do not enjoy that this bitch is headed for my house this weekend.

YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE, IRENE.

weeds.

My week.

How's yours?

fresh.

I would like some of this, please.

bookstore!

Now that Borders has failed us all, we are spending more time at Barnes and Noble. It's almost as good.

playscape.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Greg's cousin's annual summer party. As you can see, Jane had a terrible time.

feet.

A highly fucking disturbing thing happened to a friend today. I'm not wanting to talk about it now - details are scant and scary. For now, I will post the one good thing that happened today - I got a pedicure. Please ignore my beat-up big toe - I slipped in Target the other day (it's so me to do that).

here is where I am at today.

How are you doing?

photography by Jane.

As I am sure you have noticed, the bulk of my August Break pics have been taken with my Blackberry. Not ideal by any stretch, but my actual camera broke right before August began, which, of course blows. I need to replace it but I haven't had time....I'm sure you don't want to hear me complain (again) about how busy I am (again), so enjoy these pictures of me and Greg captured by Jane. I'm sure I don't need to point out how hot we both look at the end of the day. Or how I am headless.

manic monday (to say the least).

The weather outside today matches my mood perfectly.

dock dog.

We stayed down at the boat last night. This one included. He looks pretty satisfied with his lot in life, eh?

coffee break.

This morning I had to take a quick walk outside, and man, was it gorgeous. A mid-morning outdoor coffee break is not a typical part of my workday - too bad about that.

workday evening.

A cup of orange juice, a princess dress, "Blue's Clues" streaming on the iPad and a little time outside. This is how we roll.

(taken just a few minutes ago with my Blackberry.)

friends like these.

See that girl over there? (Not the nerdy one in the Old Navy flag tee.) That's my BF, Heather. This month, we celebrate 30 (THIRTY!!!) years of friendship. That's insane, right? Girl knows waaay too much about me.

point of view.

Jane has become very interested in taking pictures with my BlackBerry. Here's one she took on Saturday morning of my "favorite puppies." Jimmy looks like he really lives the hard life, don't you think?

wish I was here.

I got hit with a summer cold today, which got progressively worse as the day went on, so I can only imagine how swell I will feel for work tomorrow. Also, I seem to have some sort of poison ivy-ish rash on my neck. So, all in all, I feel like shit. I would much, much rather be here (from our RI vacation).

well, that's random.

Please enjoy this picture 0f me, taking a picture of an ostrich while on vacation. Happy Friday!

break out another thousand.

Did you know that "boat" stands for "break out another thousand"? Boats are fun - but oh, rather an expensive habit. We had a bit of a kerfuffle out on the high seas recently, and Greg's face in this pic cracks me up.

favorite.

This is probably my favorite picture to date of Greg and Jane. They were playing Busytown on the front porch at the cottage we were at in Rhode Island a couple of weeks ago. (You will see a lot of vacation shots during August Break - I've been saving them for this project!)

this one is for Shane.

As promised, I am once again taking part in the August Break. For details, check out Susannah Conway's lovely blog, but here is what it is, in a nutshell, as explained by Susannah herself:

Okay, here’s the plan for the August Break: you simply share one photo (or more!) per day on your blog – Monday to Friday, or every day. Or whenever you feel moved to share. Using any camera – DSLR, compact, Polaroid, Holga, iPhone (my choice), Instax, film or digital – with or without words – anything goes! – for the whole of August. No pressure – just looking at August through your camera lens as a way to be more present this summer. And to have a little break from the pressures and expectations of regular blogging.

There are NO RULES, people! Just sunshine (hopefully) and a bit of fun. And lots of lovely photos to look at.

OK, it's me again. I am already late to the August Break party, because my computer, as it turned out, was intensely messed up. My co-worker and friend (that's right Shane, I called you a friend, for I would only buy friends expensive dishware) Shane has been working on it for a few days, and it's back in action again! I [promised him I would dedicate my return post to him, so here it is. And, in fact, here is Shane, working hard/hardly working. Enjoy!