72:365 Freebies

Anna: Participants of the cancer society fundraiser all got a drawstring bag full of goodies as a thank you. There was a really nice button up shirt (which fits our elder daughter...) and an octagonal "brick." It turned out to be a vacuum packed t-shirt. I thought some pictures were taken of that before it got released from it's shape, but I guess they haven't been uploaded yet. I actually haven't seen it yet - I left for work before it was opened, and it was so wrinkled up, it went straight to the laundry. *L*

Then there were these things. The calculator has a screen cover that, at a push of the release button, slowly opens and flips to the back, to become a stand. The flashlight is not only a keychain, but a mini-screwdriver set. I didn't actually notice that until I started writing this post and wondered they there was an arrow at the end. If you pull and turn the black end cap, it uncovers two tiny double-ended screwdriver tips. The tips can be inserted into a holder in the light cover, where you see it sticks up a bit. Way cool!

The thing on the left, half folded, is a pen. Fully folded, it's a compact object that can be hung off a belt loop or something. When its unfolded, the nib pops out for writing. And the thing across the top is... uhm... I'm not sure what it's called. It's got a clasp for a belt loop, a key ring, and this funky flexible plastic bottle holder - the top of a water or pop bottle fits through the hole in the middle. They all have the logo for the government department Philippe is contracted to that was a sponsor for this event.

Freebies are always fun. :-D

71:365 The big shindig

Anna: So today was the official "take it off" day for those who were getting their heads shaved to raise money for the cancer society. It just happened to be held up the block from where Philippe works, so the girls and I met up with him along the way. Philippe lent his camera to our older daughter, and she did a fantastic job taking pictures. I'll only post a few here - I'm sure Philippe will post a whole series on his flicker account later on.


We got there early, so we sat around in the shade while they set up. My daughter got this picture. Does this man look insane, or what? *L*














One of the organizers had this ribbon shaved and dyed into his hair. It worked out quite well, I think.















There were two women who had really long hair cut off - this is one of them.


















My daughter captured this "now what do I do with it?" moment quite well, I think. *L*













The media was out in full force, of course. This is one of my pictures.















This woman came in with a hat and a hood covering her hair. She didn't reveal the dye job until she was called up for an interview with one of two radio personalities that took part in the event. Another one of my daughter's pictures.












Yeah, Philippe got interviewed, too. I happened to be in behind of all this, so my view wasn't good - I was able to snag most of the interview on my camera's video function, while my daughter got some good views from the hill she was on.

70:365 The hair

The Canadian Cancer Society has an annual 'take it all off' event.. Now, people have seen me without hair time and time again, so my take on it was "the highest pledge picks the haircut. Trevor from the Shampoo Hair Studio did a masterful job in translating the post-it note description into a final product :) The rest of the shots can be found here.


The start of this was shaping the hair.. As you can see, reality is starting to sink in for me. :)

















Of course, I had to take at least *one* pic of this.. Anna took the rest :D

















My hair bleached out in 20 minutes, and I mean bleached *right* out..
















Naturally curly hair does not make for a tall hawk... Straighten, we must.


































Anna took an awesome shot of my (now) hot-pink goatee.. well, most of a goatee anyway.

















Couldn't help but smile, as Trevor did an awesome job :)


















Though I look somewhat stunned, it's only because I'll be wearing this for the next 8 weeks.. :P


























This is the final product, after a clean off of the stubble (that I could reach.. not sure how I'll do the in-between stuff) :)

69:365 She missed me.

Anna:
I am a night owl. It's not unusual for me to be up until 1 or 2am, simply because I know better than to try and go to sleep. My daughter's cat tends to keep me company when I'm up. If I'm on the computer, Tiger will often curl up on her pillow on the desk (it's a large desk, with both sides usable), or sit perched on the back of the chair. When I do finally go to bed, she'll often get comfortable on my hip before I finish lying down. Sometimes, she'll noof her way under the covers and cuddle up beside me. In the morning, I've got in the habit of feeling around with my feet before I get up, as she's usually curled up in a ball somewhere near them, and I've accidentally clocked her in the head more than a few times.

Last night, I had my first shift in almost 2 weeks at my new job as a banquet server. I don't start until 6pm and, depending on the event, I might be done by 11:30, or could easily stay until 1 or 3 am. In last night's shift, I was the only banquet server that was able to stay late - all the others had to leave to catch buses or because they had other jobs to start in the morning. The event ran late and I wasn't able to phone Philippe for a ride home until past 2am.

I'm told that, while I was gone, Tiger was seriously missing me. As everyone else was getting ready for bed, she was wandering around, meowing and searching. She didn't want anyone else's company, I'm told, but was restless and meowing. At 2 am, Philippe woke up, realized what time it was and, concerned that I hadn't called yet, got up. Tiger immediately came over, meowing her displeasure. She kept hovering around, being quite vocal about it. When I finally did get home, she stopped fussing and complaining. It wasn't long before she was draped across my shoulder while Philippe and I talked. When I climbed into bed, she curled up on my hip immediately. In the morning, she was again at my feet and stayed there until I got out of bed. When I took this picture, she was taking a nap on my pillow, and looking so very content.





Philippe: I'm raising funds for the Canadian Cancer Society; usually, people shave their heads. Me? well, people have seen me with a shaved head time and time again so it wouldn't have been a great draw. I've come up with another angle. All will be made clear with tomorrow's post :D

68:365 Starting

Anna: Yesterday's park day doubled as a yarn and fabric exchange. Among our finds is this ball of yarn (and the fabric it's sitting on, though you can't really see it). I didn't know what I'd use it for when I grabbed it, but I've got an idea I'm going to try out. If it works, I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished product. :-D

67:365 A really good photo day! (updated)

Anna: Park day again today, and what a lovely day it was! Philippe and I both took lots of pictures - I'm sure he'll post a few later on. I managed to narrow mine down to these three.


Lost:
As I walked past a nearby pond, still kind of scummy from the dregs of spring's melt, I found this fading rose. Perhaps from a weekend wedding party? Or last week's May Day celebrations? No idea.

On a side note, it wasn't until I opened this image in PSP X2 to resize it that I noticed the water bug next to the blossom. I love finding surprises like that!







Hunting:
I'd gone around the lake to see if the nests I'd taken photos of before were still there (they weren't - the park staff move nests if people won't leave them alone - not sure how they convince the geese to go long with it). On the way back, I saw someone had stopped to take pictures. Until then, all I could see where a few mallards, some far away goldeneyes, and more seagulls than I've seen in ages. It took me a few moments to spot this guy, hunting among the clouds of insects along the shoreline. I was able to get quite a few pictures of him, and was surprised that they pretty much all turned out. He was pretty skittish about me as I moved around, so I was taking the pictures at my maximum optical zoom (I don't use the digital zoom - it always comes out looking horribly grainy).

update: I now know that this bird is called a Greater Yellowlegs. Thanks, Inspíderwiht.


Bottoms Up!

On the way back to the playground, I stopped to chat with a couple of people sitting by a dock. Which is probably the only reason I was able to see this - had I kept walking, they would've swum farther from the water's edge. The pair of mallards kept dunking down in tandem. It was really quite funny to watch!














Philippe: Couples, and couple-wannabes were out in force today.











Philippe: This guy was chased off by a more dominant male as he was trying to chat up the locals.















Philippe: Couples everywhere.. They do everything together, including landing :D.














Philippe: There was a guy feeding the geese as I was walking by; this goose decided I was going to feed her, so she followed me around for a while :).











Philippe: I could hear this guy for a while but we ended up playing hide and seek for a bit. He finally showed up and let me snap this.













Philippe: Now *THIS* guy wasn't shy.. He warned me away from his tree, and kept an eye on me as I left.












Philippe: This one loved fishing, and spent most of the time underwater.














Philippe: I've *no* idea what he was doing; it looked like gargling, complete with head shake and spit.

66:365 Another view

Anna: Sometimes, insomnia comes in handy. After another sleepless night, I decided to go for a walk in the morning air. My lark of an older daughter was up early and came with me, so 6 am found us wandering some higher level paths in the river valley.

As we were going along, I saw a jackrabbit on the path ahead of us, so a take up my camera, turn it on... and see a "no memory card" message flash across the screen! I'd had Philippe upload my pictures from yesterday, but I could've sworn I saw him put the memory card back again! *L* My daughter had her G2 and let me use it, but of course, the rabbit was gone by then.

Instead, we found ourself at a spit of ground overlooking the paths and river below us, and giving us a panoramic view of the valley. This is looking back at the complex we live in; two towers joined together up to the fourth floor. At the top of the one you can see on the left is where I took yesterday's pictures.

Too bad our apartment is on the far side. *L*