I’m one of those people with a fancy DSLR camera but no clue how to use it. I should have a clue, as I attended a little workshop with Me Rah Koh and got lots of great advice and tips, but you know how it is when you’re a mommy – in one ear and out the other! Hence, the amazing pictures I do get are only lucky shots, because I always shoot in auto! I just took a great picture of myself and Kayley last night – I love it. You can see it in my Flickr pictures if you want to.

Today, I was at a playdate with a bunch of my mommy friends, and two of them who happen to be photographers were discussing various photo forums and the lame people who frequent them. I overheard their conversation but didn’t have much to add to it, since I don’t know an f-stop from a shortstop, but I got the very clear idea that most forums are full of people quick to criticize without offering up much support. See, I would hate that. I would hate it if I went to a forum, trying to figure something out about my camera as a total noob, and had people giving me grief. Ugh!

Here’s a site more up my alley: No Bs Photo Success Photography Forums – a Digital Photography Forum dedicated to, what else: No B.S. I don’t know how helpful they are to people who don’t know what they’re doing, but the fact that they have a picture of the site founders in their boxer shorts makes me want to check them out. I’m just weird like that.

The testimonials are pretty convincing as well. And! They have a bunch of Photoshop tutorials. I thought it was a little weird that the last newsletter posted was from January of this year (hey guys! It’s June!) but hey. Everyone gets busy.

Wall Flower, originally uploaded by vanessaschrotenboer.

I just got a postcard in the mail for Bath & Body Works Summer Clearance Sale. It’s going on until June 15th, in stores and online. I don’t know about you, but this is the ONLY time I ever buy Wallflowers – these little plug-in fragrance thingies. They’re $5 right now, so stock up!

We do the whole Supernanny rules-posted-on-the-wall thing at our house – it’s been a big help as far as getting the kids to comprehend what is and isn’t okay in this household. They’re just about to the age now where they’re ready for chore charts too, and I was just checking out some at ChoreCharts.com. They have a bunch of cute designs, ready to be printed out and hung on the wall. Check out the different designs of chore charts on the gallery page there – they are so cute! We like the Kitty Chart best, but there are lots of designs there – they aren’t all as girlie as that one! Isn’t it adorable, though?

0605081223.jpg, originally uploaded by lalagirl.

I bought a package of these at Costco the other day and damned if they aren’t the tastiest EVER! They come in a package similar to a pork tenderloin and you can throw it on the grill for twenty minutes or so and it comes out delicious. I chopped ours up for salads, but you could probably just serve it with rice or whatever. Even the kids liked it!

And, it’s Gluten Free! Not that we’re following that diet now or anything, but I know some of my autism mama friends do, so there ya go. Yum!