Another 101 in 1001 Done

August 14, 2023 by GmasPhoto 4 Comments

Another 101 in 1001 Done!

Hi, I am quite happy. This weekend was really fun! Spent Saturday with my folks, son, daughter and her family. After my morning WW meeting, went straight to my parents home. This is were the fun continued, visited, ate lunch (Freddy’s). We played a card game, Cover Your Assets.

Once the game was over, the grand girls wanted to dance. They brought mini disco lights, which I never got a picture, darn. Turned on some 1960’s music and we danced! Thanks to my daughter, I have this picture of me and my mom dancing. On the wall, you can see faint light reflections above my mom’s head from the disco balls.

My mom had fun. When I was a kid, one of my memories was mom playing albums and we would dance. I continued the tradition with my children. When they had friends spend the night, I’d play music. Me and my kids would dance and eventually their friends would start dancing too! And this weekend Me, my mom, daughter and grand girls all danced. Priceless memories!

My friend, Linda and I meet M-F to walk. Weekends I do not necessarily walk, just relying on me doing my grocery shopping and other weekend stuff to get my steps in. Well, the dancing was an added bonus! Since COVID I have been working from home. My activity level went way down with this transition of work environment.

As our time together was coming to an end, we started talking about the newer movies. Sound of Freedom was brought up. My mom wanted to see this. So I asked her if she wanted to go with me. The dancing wore her down. With her C.O.P.D, she exerted herself. I decided to go ahead and see it. Oh, I was able to take advantage of the senior ticket price!

Unplanned, I was able to check off another 101 in 1001 done! #37 – go to a movie by myself. I also remembered to take advantage of senior discount for the movie ticket – #88!

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -13.8lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Make a List

August 7, 2023 by GmasPhoto 6 Comments

Make a List

Hi, have you ever gotten to the store, bought your things and once home you realized you forgot the item you specifically went to get? This is happening to me more than what I like to admit. And it’s not limited to just buying things at the store.

This week I had to run errands. While at the house I thought about all the things I needed to do. The car was on empty, get gas. I like going to Sonic to get a route 44 tea. Then into town to go to the Social Security office. I was prepared to be at the office most of the day. I remembered that line can be extremely long.

I got into the car to leave. My drive will take about 40 minutes. I stopped to get my Sonic route 44. Then as I left Sonic I began to think what I needed to do when I got to the social security office. About 10 minutes into my drive I remembered I needed gas. Uh-oh…..

I had passed up the last gas station before I got to my destination. As you can see my tank is on empty! I took the picture and probably was not the smartest thing to do while driving. I had approximately 25 miles to go to get to town. Keeping fingers crossed, I did not run out of gas. The first gas station I came to, I stopped and filled up!

Luckily I did not run out of gas. That would not be fun. This has made me think about making a list, shopping and to do list. Which would make shopping easier. The need to remember would be eliminated with just looking at my list!

I must admit the older I get, I recognize changes I am experiencing. Memory loss being one of those. Of course I did Google about age and memory and was comforted to know this is normal for persons 50 and older. If my lists do not help me, I will definitely consult my doctor.

One source I visit often is the Mayo Clinic. This article mentioned misplacing keys, forgetting people’s names but remember them later. This describes me.

A short while ago I did add to my key ring an Apple AirTag. It’s already been helpful. I was at the doctors office and had set my keys down in the lobby. After my appointment I went to my car and could not unlock it. Used my phone to find my keys, worked like a charm!

Remote Shutter
AirTag

This week’s WW meeting topic: Single Tasking. I have not heard of this before my meeting. Multi-tasking is a term I am familiar. Single tasking focuses on the moment. My list is multi-tasking. Each item on the list, a single task. Focus on one task at a time and not the whole list. The idea of a single task is to eliminate stress, focus on the moment and stop the squirrel like thoughts running in the mind. Allowing me to focus on the pleasures of the now, not be thinking of other things needing to be done and ruining the pleasures of the moment.

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -11.6lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Follow Up Post

August 2, 2023 by GmasPhoto 6 Comments

Follow Up Post

Hi, generally I schedule my posts for Monday’s. However, this week I wanted to have a post with a follow up to a few of my ongoing goals. And in doing so, I will be able to provide a photography tip I discovered just this weekend and would love sharing with you! Let’s begin with the photography tip.

It was while working with the picture to the left. It could be the image at the top if you are reading this on your phone. It is my selfie taken in the grocery store! 🙂

The following screen shots were taken on my iPhone 14 ProMax. The Portrait Mode is available on the iPhone 11 and up. I am not sure about models before the 11. I recommend the Portrait Mode in your camera for selfies or when your subject is two to eight feet in front of you. The Portrait Mode is available in the built-in camera app. Once you have the camera open and the Portrait Mode selected, frame the subject to take the shot. When the camera screen displays Natural Light, you can then take the picture.

Notice the background on both pictures. In Portrait Mode, the background is blurred. Looks pretty nice doesn’t it! The Portrait Mode is one way to emphasize the subject. This is especially handy when your background is busy or unattractive. There is more to the photography tip I wanted to share.

Let’s say after you take the picture, you decide you do want to see more details of the background. You can change the background to see more detail. Yes, you heard me correctly. The background can be edited after the image was taken. Let me show you how.

Open the picture you want to see more details in the background. Click the Edit button.

At the top center you will see the word Portrait that is highlighted yellow. Click it. When it is no longer highlighted, the background will not be blurred. Click the word Portrait again, and the background goes back to blurred. Pretty nifty!

Remember the rule of thirds as well. Both of these tips will make your images look better!

Ok, now for the follow up 🙂 This picture is the whole reason for the post today! I have now been an active Weight Watchers member for seven weeks. And yes, I am loosing weight, yippee! However no one seems to have noticed. I notice small changes like today getting in and out of my husband’s truck is easier. My rings seem to be spinning more on my fingers and it is hot outside!

After getting home from the grocery store, I was looking thru some of my past selfies. And lo and behold, I ran across a picture taken just this past May. It was the day I went to the KC Zoo with my daughter and her family. Visit the KC Zoo here!

My very first week, I had signed up for Weight Watchers (WW) in the phone app. The service I selected was the online option. Any classes I wanted to take would require me to upgrade services. And eventually I did just that. The meetings have been very instrumental for me. After seeing the two pictures above side by side, I wonder how much weight I lost that very first week. I never weigh myself at home. My weight was only checked when I went to the doctor and now at my weekly WW meeting. In the post, Looking my Best tells the story of my WW discovery.

And with my WW journey I am successfully implementing #69 of my 101 in 1001 goals, avoid or eat less junk food. That’s a win, win for me!

Loosing weight is not easy. Never has been for me. However, the WW point system and the ability to scan bar codes while at the grocery store makes this process for me easy. I will continue with Weight Watchers and post my progress, good or not good here. I need accountability!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

My Cell Phone is more than Just a Phone

July 24, 2023 by GmasPhoto 10 Comments

My Cell Phone is more than Just a Phone.

Hi, everyone now days has a cell phone. I remember back in the day when no one had them. And once upon a time, when someone did have one and it rang in public, it was considered rude!

How do you use your cell phone? In this post I would like to share how I use mine. Most of the apps I use are the free version. There are a few applications that I upgrade to the pro or premium. I will notate as I go which app is the paid version. Safety is huge, be sure to use applications wisely. One safety practice I use is not connecting to public wifi.

Now days our smartphones are just that, smart. I have heard we should consider them a computer in our pocket. Like most, I use my phone for calls, regular and by video; social media; taking pictures. In addition to the norms: I edit my pictures; track my steps; calendar to schedule appointments; banking, check balances, transfers and pay bills.

Smartphones are not cheap. Because of this I am trying to utilize my smartphone more. The app Adobe Scan has been a wonderful find. I no longer use my scanner that is connected to my PC. Using my phone now to scan simplifies my life. Just take a picture in the app to generate the pdf file. This can be saved right to my phone and I am able to email as needed.

Apps I can not live without

Project Life (standard)

PicTapGo (this is a yearly subscription)

Calendar (standard calendar on phone)

Weight Watchers (active member)

Bublup (free)

Maps (standard on phone)

Sonic (half price drinks all the time!)

Pedometer (Basic)

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -10.6lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

July 17, 2023 by GmasPhoto 15 Comments

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

Hi, what a fun weekend I experienced with my grand-girls. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town with friends for a float trip. Which translates to me getting to spend the entire weekend with the girls, YES!!

I took the day Friday away from my work to do my weekend errands in the morning so I could drive to Topeka and get the girls picked up from summer camp by 4pm. That evening we went back to their house to take care of the pups, get dinner ready and then movie time. Grandma let the girls stay up later than their bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin came out to sat with the girls while I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. While I was away, Kevin took the girls to the Farmer’s Market. Upon my return the girls were excited to tell me, they got some honey sticks and already ate them. After Kevin left, we ate our lunch and decided to go to the Topeka Zoo.

After the zoo we stopped by the girls choice restaurant, McDonald’s. Brynlee likes the playground. We ate and then I watched the girls play for a bit. Then back to their house. Once back to the house we let the doggies out and fed them. By this time the weather had cooled down some. We went outside for some fun activities, hula hoop and jump rope. Here is a fun video of the girls trying to teach me how to hula hoop!

MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google.
The video will then appear.

The best part of the day for me was when the girls were getting ready for bed. Briella told me she had a fun day. This warmed my heart. My husband always asks me what memories did we make after I am with the grand girls. This is certainly a memory I will treasure.

Sunday was my last day to spend with the girls. The plan was to meet Shaune’s parents for them to take the girls to Branson. Our hand off was a success!

This weekend the grand girls and I completed two of my 101 in 1001. #13 Go to the Topeka Zoo and #89 Learn How to Hula Hoop. At least I tried! 🙂

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -8.8lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

To Face the Sun, or Not

July 10, 2023 by GmasPhoto 8 Comments

To Face the Sun, or not.

Hi, have you ever thought about the position of the sun when you take your picture? Should the subject be facing the sun or looking away from the sun? This is a question I have been asked more than once. I have taken a few ‘selfies’ to demonstrate the different positions of the sun.

Let’s begin with the sun behind the subject.

The image on the left is straight out of the phone’s camera. No edits. The image on the right was edited. As you can see the image was lightened so that my facial features are more visible.

The next set of pictures, the sun is in the West. The left picture I have turned my face so the sun is shining on the left side of my face. The right picture I turned my face to the right.

Both of these images were right out the phone’s camera. No edits were made to the pictures.

This next picture I was facing the sun.

It’s important to know that when these series of images was taken, it was in the golden hour; approximately 45 minutes before sunset. As you can see all the images look nice with little to no editing needing to be done. Another prime outdoor photography time is in the morning the first hour of sunrise. The sun is softer in the morning and just before the sun sets. If I need to shoot in the middle of the day I look for shaded areas. This next set of pictures was taken in the shaded area of my yard.

silly pictures in the shade — Silly pictures in the shade.

There is no correct way to take an image. Photography is an art. Trying to make the image look nice is the main point to focus on. How to make your image look its best. As long as you are pleased with the result, it is a good picture!

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -6lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra