So, this past weekend with Jim was an amazing one.  I shut off the outside world for 48 hours, and we headed north to an inexpensive jacuzzi suite in Macedonia near the Cuyahoga Valley State Park.  I’m amazed at how little I missed the web and my iPhone (I never even charged and only used it a couple of times in airplane mode to check the time).

Here are the highlights:

-          Delicious dinners were had at Qdoba (didn’t know there was one so close to home!) and Outback Steakhouse.

-          Jacuzzis are awesome, especially when full of bubbles and surrounded by yummy-smelling candles.

-          Homemade icecream at a little shop inside the state park = butterpecanliscious.

-          Took photos at two waterfalls, which was fun, but the water was really low. We’ll go back sometime.

-          The movie Up (which we saw in 3-D) was absolutely AMAZING, and surprisingly perfect for an anniversary weekend date. Jim wore the 3-D glasses for the rest of the evening. HOT.

-          The morning of our anniversary consisted of champagne we saved from our wedding mixed into mimosas and sipped in the Jacuzzi before checking out.  Delicious use of champagne + sentimental value = perfect. :)

-          Sunday marathon of the entire first season of Big Bang Theory, which Jim gave me on Friday, w00t.

Stay tuned for pictures… I had a lot of fun with the camera and Jim even played around with the Canon too.  It was a *great* weekend!

Yeah... I'm totally loving it. I'm still using mostly auto mode and the no-flash mode, but I did manage (after much reading and practicing) to take one photo today in full manual mode that looked normal (rather than underexposed/overexposed/blurry/awful). Really proud of myself!

Penelope was the only thing in the apartment that was really interesting to photograph, so I know it's a lot of kitty, but it was all I had to shoot until Jim came home and then I grabbed a few of him too. You can see all the photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timshelyn/sets/72157617484631281/

More to come! I'm having a blast! :)

Click on the info above for a link to the Twtvite, and I hope I'll be seeing some of you local folks at next week's first "official" 3rd Friday in Akron. Tweetup in Northeast Ohio!

I really enjoying Watchmen. Here are the quick points for me:

1. It was very, very close to the actual book, which is a plus for me, and possibly a drawback for people new to the storyline(s), because it's a huge book with a lot of different storylines and characters.

2. It was very long, but surprisingly short given my point #1.

3. Visually SO incredibly accurate in casting of characters, costumes, everyone in the film being so eerily close in appearance to the book. Liked that it was set in the 80's, same as the book, but this gave it a dated feel at times.

4. There is a big event in both the book and movie (in the second half) that is changed completely in the movie, possibly to make it more realistic, but I keep waivering on whether or not the change that was made actually makes the end of the story less realistic. Hard to explain without spoilers, but overall, I don't think it made the movie any less fantastic, but it left me wondering if the outcome would be the same with changes that were made to the big end event.

5. I had a lot of fun going with a fellow comic nerd! So much more to talk about afterward, so thanks to Matt for the invite and thanks to our significant others for humoring us and tagging along. :)

6. Overall impression: You MUST go see if you've read Watchmen, and it's still a pretty great movie either way, although maybe a little overwhelming for non-readers. Jim liked it, but said that he was left wondering what had happened... lol. ;)

Remember this entry about my completely disappointing experience with Felicitea.com?

http://brandice.net/blog/?p=875

Summer actually replied with:

"Brandice,

I absolutely agree. There is no excuse. I personally apologize and except responsibility.

I am sorry, I will do my best to make it right to you personally, as well as to the tea community at large. This was completely and utterly my fault due to negligence here at Felicitea. You're $$ will be refunded asap and, as fresh tea was made and repacked and prepped for shipment, it will still be delivered to you. Do with it whatever you like.

I completely respect and understand your decision, and as a tea customer, would completely agree with your decision.

You have my sincere and complete apology. I recognize that I have damaged our personal, as well as business, relationship, and it makes me sincerely sad. I appreciate your patience and eagerness to work with me. I am deeply regretful I let you down.

Sincerely,
Summer Plum
Felicitea"

Do I have tea or a refund? No, I do not.

Quick Wednesday morning vid, chatting about the new iPhone Kindle app and continued love of my hair.

Driving back to the hospital after having lunch at Luigi's with former co-workers Amber and Heather. Also tested out using the iPhone in the phone dock backwards for filming myself in the car.