Category Archives: Photography

I Can See Clearly Now…

Laser eye surgery is truly a miracle. I can now see more clearly than I could when I was a teenager. 20/15! Last night we went to an Ice Hockey game and watched from a box. I could see the expressions on the players faces – it was incredible.

The downside is that I can now clearly see how much I neglected my eyebrows over the past few months while I plucked blindly.

As for the surgery itself – I spent a lot more time waiting for the Xanax to kick in that I took for them to complete the surgery. It was weird and uncomfortable but painless. The worst part was the anxiety involved in having someone prop your eyes open and then place you under a large machine. They gave me a stuffed animal to hold to keep my hands occupied during the procedure and I didn’t realize how tightly I was gripping the poor thing until I was done. But they talked me through the whole process as it was happening and there were few in-the-moment surprises. I felt as though I was in good hands and, judging by the pace of recovery, I was.

Immediately after the procedure I was given some very sexy Bono-type goggles and instructed to head straight home to bed and go to sleep before the pain set in. Unfortunately we had a bit of a drive in front of us so the pain did begin before I was finally able to go to sleep. I slept well (could have been the medication) and when I woke up I could see perfectly without need to reach for my glasses.

So now I’m religiously following the post op instructions (eyedrops every hour!) and wearing goggles to bed to avoid eye rubbing during the night. Honestly, the goggles and fact that I can’t put my face under water are the most difficult side effects of this whole process – and they’re temporary. Brilliant!

So I’ll end this post with a photo that I took last night at the Hockey game. It’s my “slice of life” photo for this week’s I Heart faces challenge and one of my first opportunities to take photos without looking through the extra lens of my glasses.

Samuel wasn’t a fan of the noise that erupted each time the Winterhawks scored a goal – and with 7  goals in the game, that was a lot of noise.

Spring Change

The Portland sun came out for a full hour or so on Saturday – just enough to spur a burst of energy so powerful that I went for a run. Those who know me will be able to appreciate just how much of a big deal that is.

And it didn’t stop on Saturday. Each day since, I have been motivated to power up the Wii and spend 15-30 minutes with my virtual trainer to do a little yoga and a few toning exercises. It’s not as much as I would like to do, but it’s the most I can accomplish in the brief allotment of time that I have between walking in the door after work and when Kei brings the boys home. The upside of all this movement is that I feel a little more energetic and the stiffness in my joints has eased up. The downside is that it hurts when I sneeze and, thanks to Spring allergies, I am uncomfortably reminded of my new workout commitment many times throughout the day.

The emergence of Spring has also brought with it a few changes for the Ishidas. Samuel started at a new daycare this week – a big shift given he started at his other daycare way back when he was four months old. Thomas is also attending the new daycare for Spring Break and, so far, they both seem to be having a wonderful time making new friends and engaging in new experiences. I was told this morning that Thomas has quickly brought the other kids of his age up to speed on the full Star Wars saga and that Samuel is nearly up to full chatter capacity after a couple of shy days. Yes, it seems they’re settling in nicely.

And, finally, one more big change coming on Thursday. My date with the laser is imminent. I’m a little nervous about the whole CUTTING INTO MY EYE thing, but looking forward to  some Xanax and the promise of 20/20 vision. More to come on that soon.

For the moment I leave you with a few photos from our brief, but wonderful, sunny Saturday. Oh, and note to the ice cream vendors of Portland – next time can you wait until the temperature rises above 50 degrees before you start trying to cash in on the families coming out of winter hibernation? I don’t need to hear Greensleeves while I can still see my breath.

This mischevous look captures my youngest child perfectly.

I like to think that Samuel was pretending to be asleep, but I think he was actually playing dead. The joys of role play with a two year old.

Thomas was just shielding his eyes from the blinding sunlight (OK, it wasn’t THAT bright). And, honestly, he looks a little uncomfortable lying on the sidewalk. What won’t a cruel mother do for a photo?

The Boys

I love capturing images of my boys together. It happens so rarely that it clearly takes a bathtub to ensure they stay in the same place for more than five minutes. Of course this photo only came about after about 100 other shots, but it was worth it.

These are my favorite faces for February and my entry in this week’s I heart faces challenge.

Right now…

THOMAS is…

  • A great big brother – looking for lost toys and making sure his brother is doing the right thing.
  • Sensitive – we’ve been dealing with moments of sadness and insecurity. Not sure if this is a five year old thing or just the musings of a very sensitive and thoughtful little boy.
  • Curious – right now we’re in the process of identifying every single sign we see on the street (that’s 35 limit, mummy) and reading – numbers (above ten) and putting together letters. It’s all coming together.
  • Smart – Being sick means staying at home, too many toys means it’s too much for him to possibly carry… Thankfully Mummy is still a little smarter.
  • Learning – How to swim. He’s done so well with swimming lessons over the past few weeks. Our timid little boy is now put his head fully under water without fear until we count to 10.

SAMUEL is…

  • Funny – he will do just about anything to make us laugh these days – and do it over and over if it makes us laugh just once.
  • Musical – Drums, guitar, singing. One of my favourite things at night is to sing a few songs with him before he goes to sleep.
  • In Awe – of his big brother. If Thomas does something, you can count on Samuel trying to do the same thing just a few moments later.
  • Slow – OMG – it takes this kid soooo long to finish a meal. He’s often left at the dinner table by himself.
  • Making choices – his favorite color is blue, his best friend is Bowie (and then it’s Maggie, and then it’s George…), his favorite book author is Mercer Mayer (although he doesn’t know that, he just likes the critters), his favorite food is still blueberries (thankful they’re coming back in season).

Looking forward to, and a little frightened about, all March will bring, including travel (for Kei and then me), a big change with Samuel’s daycare, MORE photography (a promise to myself) and, most importantly, SPRING!

Bring it on!

Monday Madness and a Little iphone Love

I’ve realized I should top talking about how busy every day is and just accept that this is the normal rhythm of our lives right now. Work is crazy, life is crazy – end of story.

Thankfully the weekend was a minor respite from the madness of work. Amidst the swimming lessons and trips to target (I should just deposit my salary there) we managed an unplanned trip to the Zoo. It was cold but the sun poked out once or twice and it was a lot of fun. Zoo membership means that we don’t have to try and reach every little corner of the zoo each time we go. It affords us the luxury of choosing so that our visit is not threatened by the meltdown of an overtired two year old and I think we escaped it on this visit by the skin of our teeth (what a horrible expression). This weekend we focused on the big cats and the primates. The Orangutans were the biggest hit, followed closely by the enormous pythons that seemed to be hidden in every corner (I think we counted five by the end of our visit). Such a fun family day.

But, alas, it is Monday and I need to get the kids off to a play date so I can head to work. This week is going to be busy (ahem – normal), so I am preparing myself for it now.

I have just enough time to share my I heart faces challenge photo. This week it’s all about the cellphone photo and I found this little gem hiding on my iphone. It was taken way back when the days were warm and the reflection of light off the table was enough to illuminate Samuel’s face – and what a sweet face it is. It was back when he still looked like a baby. Now he looks like the cross between an adorable toddler (on a good day), and an angry teenager (on a bad day).

I took a few photos of our trip to the zoo and hope to share them later this week.

Happy Monday…Oh and Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s day is one of those Hallmark holidays that I can give or take. Actually, now that I have children, it is actually quite inconvenient. Or maybe it’s just because I have small children – one of whom can’t yet write his own name and so I am forced to manage the entire valentine-writing myself. Then I have the other child who can write his own name but sees a pile of 30 valentines on the table and feels overwhelmed by the workload. We managed to finish them up in shifts throughout the day yesterday. I don’t know if there’s a Bah, Humbug! equivalent for this holiday but that’s how I feel.

On a not-quite-so-cranky note, we had a fabulous action-packed weekend. It began with Iron Bartender on Thursday night, then Friday was my first pre-op for my brand new laser eyes (coming soon!) and dinner and a movie with my husband while the boys hung out at daycare for a few extra hours (thankfully I was able to see again by the time the movie started – eye dialation is no fun). On Saturday we had swimming lesson, a trip to the safety Saturday at the fire station, a consultation to get french doors (yay!) and then another night out without the kids – dinner for one friend’s birthday and then a stop by at another party celebrating two more friends. Sunday involved a little furniture shopping and a nap for all four of us – we needed it.

So, because I have not had time to edit all photos from the weekend (surprised?), I will share this little one for the current I Heart Faces challenge. This week is all about RED for women’s heart disease awareness. I took the photo in the back of the car while we were waiting at the grocery store and, since he’s wearing a red shirt, I think it counts. I just love this little slice of life and it’s a good reminder that I need to capture more photos that record our daily adventures. I also love that he’s covering his eyes and not doing a silly face or fake smile for the camera. It makes this one a little different.