Been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely time

You know, the silly thing about these long absences of mine, is that I've been writing. What about, you might ask? Some personal stuff; like so personal and/or dark and/or whatever that if it came to light that I was writing about it, someone might take it the wrong way or {egads!} get hurt feelings that perhaps their privacy was just a teensy, tinsey bit too invaded. The other stuff? I guess I'm just too lazy to post it on-line. Maybe I'm not the blogging kind of girl. Maybe I'm a Luddite through and through.

But, nope, here I am. At least for today. And here's what I gots for yous guys:

The start of another glorious week. Been working on my assignment for Graphic Design class. It's been fun and has whizzed by. I'll probably redo some things as more ideas come to be - it's nice to get more creative as I warm up and keep doing logos. (That's the topic of the assignment - logos and body copy.) That's usually how my creative process goes though. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do this assignment outside the lab at school, but I've downloaded so many fonts over the years, that my work computer is okay. (editor's note: It's good enough to give shape to my ideas, but they're not always as polished as I would like since I don't have all the correct tools. Damn adobe for making their products so expensive yet essential!)

Saw my mom for the first time since the last family birthday in August. I'm such a slacker sometimes - we only live about an hour away. But with school and everything else going on, sometimes (most of the time) Santee is the last place I want to spend my time (and gas money) driving to. Anyway, Mike went with me and we talked about how her and my dad's Hawai'i trip went. My dad had gotten 3 hours of sleep, so was napping when we went over. It was good to talk to her and fun to look at pictures of my Tongan relatives (who now reside in Hawai'i).

In another month or so (less, even!) there will be a houseful of relatives for my folks to contend with. Aaron will be home after 2 years on his mission. Jared will be accompanied by Tanya and Caitlin. Aric and Brenda will have Cole and Emma in tow. My grandmother and her husband, Hershey will be down from Portland, OR. And then there are my mom and dad, me, Mike and possibly his kids. For the first time in 4 years, all of the Barrera kids will be together. Mom is arranging for family pictures to be taken. I'll be sure to bring the digital camera and take candids like I did at Cole's Blessing. It will be weird to have everyone around again. After all the initial excitement, I am anxious to see how Aaron will re-settle into the family house and life in general - as a "civilian". I hope all will go fairly smooth for him.

I was surprised to think about my niece, Emma, the other day and realize how much I have missed her. I haven't seen her for awhile and I wonder if she'll have completely forgotten me. For while, she would come to me and hang out. It's such a rewarding feeling when you feel wanted by a child and you realize that a bond has been formed between the two of you.

Mike and I went to the Wild Animal Park yesterday before his daughter's soccer game. In the hour or so we walked around there, I took about 125 pictures. A few came out really good - a small herd of elephants, a lionness, a couple of birds grooming their feathers, and a few macro shots of some plants. I'm most excited about the elephants, though. I can't wait to go home and play, I mean edit them. (editor's note: See, I delivered! Just, not all 125.)

Anyway, that's it. I'll post the photos later, tomorrow hopefully. Maybe I'll even write again soon, okay?