A letter to my friend

Dearest Brian,

I never ever would have imagined that I would have attended your funeral yesterday. It still seems so unreal… so unbelievable. Your sudden death has left so many of us in shock… just like you to make a grand exit.

I’ve spent every spare second this past week thinking of you. There aren’t any bad memories, not a one. Everyone who knew you talks about your gigantic wonderful smile that could light the darkest of rooms. But you were so much more than that. I’ve heard “he was a good man” at least a dozen times this week. This is so true. You were kind, generous, caring and most of all you were the real deal.

Any person was lucky to know you, but I have the honor of calling you a friend. And we were great friends too, weren’t we? Our souls were connected, that’s how intense I believe our friendship was.

Of course I am going to miss that amazing smile that everyone talks about. But I am also going to miss our great conversations, our “eye to eye” gesture, your wonderful laugh and just your presence.

I’m so glad you met the love of your life. I know our get togethers became less frequent, but I also understand. You and Kelly were living life and loving it. You deserved that kind of love in your life and I’m thrilled you found that.

Bri, words cannot express the sadness that I feel knowing that I will never see you or talk to you again in this mortal life. Knowing my “eye to eye” buddy is gone. Selfishly, I am so sad, but I know you are in a better place.

Thank you for your friendship and love. Thank you for all the amazing memories I will hold dear. Thanks for being who you were for me.

Rest in peace, my friend. I love you. xoxo

Brian Keith Cato
February 8, 1966 ~ May 23, 2009 (way too soon)

Myrtle Beach

Last week we took a family vacation to Myrtle Beach. Kev, the Bug and I hoped in the car and drove to South Carolina to camp with Grandma and Grandpa (Kev’s Dad & Mary).

Our first stop? Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. We stayed with the wonderful and generous Meghan and her family. Hunter got to play with his new friend Xan.

And I got to play with my friend, Meghan.

It was tons of fun. It was great to hang out, drink a few brews and chat over some pizza. Meghan is an amazing photographer and it was a real treat to watch her take and process pictures.

Thank you Meg for allowing us to hang out and invade your weekend… it was a blast!!

Then on to Myrtle Beach. It rained the whole drive from North to South Carolina. It was cold and rainy for the first couple of days. But after a trip to Wlmrt we had warm clothes and were able to literally chill at the beach. lol

This was Hunter’s first look at the ocean. The contemplation on his face is very similar to how I feel when I visit the ocean.

One of my favorite shots from that first day:

These next two shots are hilarious. Hunter was throwing sea shells back into the ocean… then the waves came in and he came running back…

The family vacation shot. I really dig the way this on came out. It might be a little tight at the top, but I still like it.

I actually got up one morning at 5AM to shoot the sunrise. I’m either really trying to be a photographer or I am just bat-shit crazy… either way… I hope you enjoy the pic.

All of these shots are sooc (straight out of camera). I just haven’t had the time to do proper adjustments… and if I tried to wait, I would have never gotten around to my vacation post.

The vacation was wonderful. But I am also a firm believer that even a crappy day at the beach is better than a great day at work. Hehehe I love being at the ocean. It rejuvenates my inner peace.

We got back on Sunday morning (around 1AM) Kev drove all the way through coming home. Hunter was amazing in the car, I couldn’t have asked for him to be better. The plan was to get home and chill on Sunday and Monday and head back to work Tuesday.

However on Sunday afternoon I got a phone call that was horrible news. A great friend of my passed away suddenly. The heartbreak is almost unbearable… but that is another post. Probably tomorrow.

More vacation pics on flickr… just click on one of the pics above to see them.

Is it bad that it’s only Wednesday and I am thinking about when I can go on vacation again. Lol

~S

12 of 12 - the May edition

It’s that time of the month again… lol. Time for Chad’s 12 of 12. It’s a cool concept and you should go and check it out the other 12 of 12’s if you get a chance.

I warned you yesterday, the pictures were lacking. But I was able to make up for it last night. Honestly, there is nothing like spring in Michigan.

7:30 AM – I was chasing Hunter around the house with the camera… literally. This is the one shot I got that wasn’t so blurry. Even tho’ a couple of the blurry ones were kind cool.

5:46 PM – Flowers from a planter hanging in the back yard. Cool colors together.

5:47 PM – Even dead flowers can make a cool picture.

5:47 PM – I love finding hearts in unusual places. Here is a heart in the freshly tilled dirt of my flower garden. I hope it’s a sign of a garden to be filled with love.

5:52 PM – Kev making dinner… tacos, yummy.

6:40 PM – This is the poppy plant that we bought last weekend to plant in one of my flower gardens. It was frosty out these past couple of nights, so it’s living inside for right now. I love the colors of the flowers.

6:42 PM – Hunter outside… of course. Actually he is playing with the bird feeder.

6:58 PM – Here is a pic of my new highlights. I’m not having the best hair day, but you get the idea. NOTE: of course it looks much better today. Lol

~*~ Yard tour begins here~*~

7:25 PM – This is a close up of the flowers on my Twisted Weeping Lavender. It really is the coolest tree.

7:30 PM – I thought the light looked cool coming thru’ the back of the pear tree.

7:30 PM – Apple blossoms. There are so many this year, it’s great. Last year a late frost killed everything off and we only had one apple on this particular tree.

7:31 PM – My multi-tasking man! Kev is pushing Hunter on the swing and playing catch with Tyler. And yes, Tyler is sticking his tongue out. LOL

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed the backyard tour. Thanks to Chad for hosting this monthly exercise.

~S

Consider yourself forewarned

It is the 12th of May, time for Chad’s 12 of 12. It is almost 4 o’clock already and I have only taken 1 decent picture. ( I took about 15, but I was chasing Hunter around while he screamed and ran from the camera… fun times, but I’m sure it makes for crappy pictures.)

Be prepared for lots of evening shots from the yard.

~*~*~*~*~
Happy Birthday Xan!! I hope you are having a stupendous day!!

Little things

Hunter and I were walking thru the yard the other day, as we often do. Going from tree to tree admiring any new growth, looking at the little blooms and new leaves.

Out of no where, Hunter says: “It’s a beautiful day.”

Honestly? I almost cried.

Jack of all trades,

master of none.

This weekend I finally made a decision on what to do about my computer. My current laptop was a 30 gig… hey, stop laughing. So needless to say, I didn’t have any photos stored on this laptop. I’ve been ogling computers for months now, but just couldn’t justify the funds (especially on one income) and really didn’t want to have to deal with Windows Vista. Planned obsolescence of computer software has always been a pet peeve of mine.

So I went to the local Micro Center and bought 4gig of ram (2 for each computer) and a brand spanking new 320 gig hard drive ( would have bought a 500, but they didn’t have one in stock). I also purchased a nifty little gadget for cloning hard drives. Within 2 hours, I was up and running with my new expanded hard drive and the best part? I didn’t have to re-install anything. My hard drive cloned perfectly. The only way to tell I did anything is by looking at the properties of the c: drive.

For under 200 bucks I upgraded my laptop hard drive and ram and added ram to the other laptop.

Kev has even started to call me a gadget ho.

Life is good.

Oh hey… what do you think about Moon and Starz Photography?