WordPress weekly photo challenge: unexpected – and 50% off my photo calendars

I’m reblogging from my nature photography website today, simply because I have the perfect photo for this theme and my kids were with me when I took it.

I also want to start this post with a big announcement: my 2014 nature photography calendars (choose between five different themes) are available for sale at 50% off on my online Zazzle store today (all other products are 20% off). Enter code BLKFRIDAY541 at checkout; code valid until November 22, 2013, midnight. All calendars are made to order in the USA so you support the US economy with your purchase, and a starving artist (me!). I also appreciate any referral through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and of course your blog or website.

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “unexpected”. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I know the Oxford Dictionaries recently named “selfie” as word of the year, but seriously, “photobomb” would have been my pick. Here’s nature’s version of a photobomb: an unexpected mallard duck flying in front of a white pelican as I was trying to take its picture. Thanks, dude.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Unexpected duck flies in front of pelican

You can view the rest of my photos of white pelicans in San Diego here.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: the hue of you

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “the hue of you”. The people at WordPress are asking us to share a hue that represents us, who we are as a person, or how we’re feeling at the moment.

First let me share my boys’ hue, or rather hues, coming from our giant bag of Lego bricks and other shapes. Even their clothes have the same hues. Well, maybe except for yellow, because who looks good in bright yellow, apart from the Lego guys?

WordPress weekly photo challenge: the hue of you

Do you see any feminine colors in there? No? I didn’t think so. That’s because, as my boys like to remind me on a regular basis, “pink is for girls”. Pink and purple (and blue) happen to be my favorite colors and represent the hue of me much better than the bright yellow Lego colors. To see my favorite colors, hop on over to my photography website for a different version of this challenge.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Good Morning!

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “good morning”. Well, I don’t know how things look like where you live, but it’s a beautiful morning here in San Diego! Sunny and cool when we got up, but it’s warming up quickly. It will be in the 80s most of the afternoon. It can be very hot in September and October (terrible for wildfires), so I’m enjoying this weather.

So what am I doing this morning? I took my home office to my local mom and pop coffee shop to spur my creativity and change my mindset. Here’s my workstation, where everything I need is in front of me, including my cup of tea. With the mandatory spill-proof lid to preserve my laptop and my phone. :-)

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Good Morning! Working at the coffee shop

I wanted to take a picture of the view from the window I’m sitting by but the sunlight is way too bright for my cell phone camera. So you’ll have to trust me when I tell you I’m looking at mostly poplar trees, with their leaves slowly turning to yellow.

So far it’s been a good morning for me. I’ve spent the first two hours working on a writing assignment for a client. Then another half hour sending out emails chasing payment for invoices. And now I’m rewarding my hard time by working on the next photo selections for my 2014 calendars. You can view my calendar themes here and the first calendar photo choices here.

I really enjoy working in this type of environment, as I seem to find “the flow” a lot more often than when I work at home. And they have great background music, so that’s a plus. I’m not the only one who seems to benefit from working in a coffee shop. I heard J.K Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book that way. If you work from home, do you sometimes take your work to a different location for a change? And if you work in an office, do you sometimes work from home or somewhere else to purposely break the routine?

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Inside… with a twist

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “inside”. I wasn’t sure I would participate when I first saw the theme on Friday morning but after what happened to us on Friday afternoon, I figured I had a good opportunity to feature something a little different.

I’m not a superstitious person and Friday the 13th doesn’t bother me, especially since nothing significantly bad usually happens on those days. Well, that was until Friday, September 13, 2013, when I drove to the store with my kids in the back of the car. As I was patiently waiting at a red light, I suddenly heard a very loud bang and my whole body jumped, and the car with it. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what had happened. A car had just crashed into mine.

I didn’t hit anyone in front of me because I was the first one in line, but my car was pushed into the sidewalk crossing area. Fortunately, it never got to the intersecting street, which is the busiest street in town. I quickly looked back at my kids and asked if they were OK. They had no idea what had just happened and didn’t seem to have suffered any injuries. I got out of my car if check the damage and I saw another car into my own, sitting sideways between two lanes, with a very apologetic driver. I have no idea what he did to make this happen (besides not stop) but I’m glad everyone is OK. Well, except for my car, which is a mess.

Know that the worst day to be in an accident is a Friday afternoon because nothing happens over the weekend, especially when you have to deal with someone else’s insurance company. So this week I’ll be spending my time figuring out when I can have someone evaluate the damage, taking my car to the repair shop and getting a rental car until it’s fixed. Never a dull moment.

This is what the outside of my car looks like, after I duct taped the bumper back in place. If you think it doesn’t look bad, take a good look at the back wheel and you’ll realize it’s crooked as the other car hit the whole left rear. The wheel and the tire are damaged, the suspension is broken, the back panel is all bent. The backlight is broken, the trunk is crooked, and everything under the bumper is dented. The bumper itself is the least of my worries. I just hope the frame of the car is OK.

My broken Ford Fusion

And this is what the inside of my car looks like. Perfectly safe. Thank you to the Ford Motor Company for making safe cars. I love my Ford Fusion and the car not even being three years old, this breaks my heart. And thank you to Britax for making some of the safest child restraint seats.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Inside my car