Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Personas for Firefox | Personas by Dawn Allynn

Have you ever used Personas on your Firefox Browser? I love them. I have an addition to Firefox, and to add-ons for it. I discivered Personas a few months ago, and I';m hooked. Lovely way to cheer up your computer with art!

So, yesterday I tried making one of my own. It's a first, and hopefully one of many... come see it! Tell me what you think!

Personas for Firefox | Personas by Dawn Allynn


Taking a Break and Enjoying Family

Looking back toward San Antonio, NM

Ruidoso is a long way from here...

Eye catching meadows brush against the base of stark blue mountains...

The Lava Fields of Fire Valley


I don't do private time as much as I should. But every once in awhile I set aside some time for just me and the family.

This time it was because mom and sister had set aside some time at the family cabin in Ruidoso, New Mexico so that everyone and anyone who wanted to come and enjoy a week or two could come by.

So last weekend the kids and I piled in the car and drove the approximately three hour (with stops) drive to the cabin where Brian, my sweetheart, drove in to meet us. (The photos above are of the long drive between Albuquerque and Ruidoso.)

It was quiet. Not much happened. We lazed around and enjoyed the woodsy peacefulness, and the short rainstorm that blew through. It was great!

I didn't even get many photos. These are all I have, proof that I truly enjoyed a break.

Sunset view over the pines from the porch of the cabin.
Another view from the porch, and it sounds as peaceful as it looks.

Busy Person Seeking Extra Time

I am terrible at time management. I am not so hot at priorities either. I have so much I want to do in such a short space of time that I get lost in it all.

I am a full time office manager, which is where I get my steady paycheck and health benefits. Part time my good friend, Tim Nisly, and I do IT consulting and repair, and this is a fairly decent income to augment my not so hot pay as an office manager. I also do the photography thing, which even if i didn't make a penny I would want to pursue because I love it so much. But these days I am making some decent money in that arena as well.

The problems come when trying to squeeze all the other things I want and need into the spaces left between those three jobs. I need a new camera, and soon, to do some of the work I have been hired to do. One of mine broke, the other isn't in great condition, and I am ready to upgrade anyway. This is about a $3,000 purchase, and I am not making that much money. But it's a priority, so I am going to make it happen by July if I can. This means I need all my jobs.

I want to clean up my yard at home, I want my relaxation space to be... well, relaxing. But this takes time and daylight, something I see little of after I get home after dark. I can live without this one, but part of me yearns.

I want to attend gallery shows held by my friends and contacts. This is important because it is the right thing to do, and smart if I want to show myself. But I seem to be working every time soemthing good is going on. I need to figure out how to make at least some of the shows.

I want to spend time with my family, whom I love dearly. Brian works all week out of town, and my kids are on the go most of the time, so weekends are it. But I have had most of my best paying photo gigs on weekends, so we compromise. (We went to Ruidoso this past weekend, as you can see in my last post. so I am at least working on things in this area.)

I have physical therapy for my shoulders (rotator cuffs) twice a week, which is helping, but taking time out of my office job, which I need to make ends meet. I also need my shoulders, so the therapy, for now, is the priority.

My blogs. I want to keep up with my blogging, my Twitter, my posts that keep me in the lop with my friends, my networks, and my family. It's not face-time, but at least it's contact.

Then I have my chickens and ducks, my dogs and cats, my laundry, housekeeping, and cooking. Visiting my mom and dad, getting my car in for an oil change, getting my hair cut, finding time to buy a new pair of jeans because my last ones are torn, keeping in touch and sending packages to a sick friend, buying groceries, cleaning out the shed I have sworn I'd clean for two years, doing the shoots with the four models I keep trying to squeeze in......

*sigh*

I need a personal assistant to keep me straight and tell me what to do.