I'm running my half marathon in eight days.  I had Nicole drive me around the course so I could make some notes on which miles were predominately uphill and which were downhill.  It seems I have more uphill notes than down. :(  I'm getting a little worried that I haven't been doing enough miles.  I was originally going to try for 10:05 pace which is a little over 2 hours and 12 minutes but I think I'm going to scale back to 10:30 per mile which is 2 hours 17.  I really just want to finish and adding five minutes to my time doesn't sound like much.

It's been hot all week and I wanted to a photo to illustrate that.  I'm not sure if a screen shot of my phone is really a photo but I'm counting it.

Photoshop CC has some "apps" that you can download as add ons.  I used a free app to add texture to this photo.  Picked up the tip from Glyn Dewis.  His weekly podcast is worth checking out.

Not the most technically perfect photo ever but I think it captures her spirit.

Just something random.

Playing around with Photoshop tonight.  I didn't really have a clear vision of what I wanted but I did learn a new technique for masking hair to separate it from the background.

Why do dogs think I like them?

My brothers kids were over for a couple hours today and went down to French Creek park for some Ninja Warrior practice.

Tonight, we made a trip to GameStop so Logan could trade in some games and pre order Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Sometimes I get too much on my plate.  In addition to regular family and work life, I'm training for a half marathon, I'm taking a photo everyday and I've been studying Spanish.  I decided to make a weekly schedule of what I will do each night.  Tonight the schedule said to use my DSLR to take my photo.  No cell phone shots allowed.  I'm glad I did.

I had to document snap chatting.  When you send a snap chat to someone the photo only appears on their screen for 10 seconds.  Then it's gone forever.  Sometimes Madison sends these weird face selfies to her friends all night long.

Our Indiana plant sent us this material to work with.  It should be flat and not look like it rode in the trunk of a demolition derby card.

I can't let a whole year go by without photographing the peeling paint on our garage.

Just trying to photograph the light.

It was the final day of the Whiteside County Fair.  The biggest attraction of the week is the demolition derby.

I was just snapping some random photos.  I didn't intend for this to the photo of the day but like it so here it is.

This is a work photo which I normally don't like to include but it is a big part of my life and I really should have some evidence of it over the course of 365 photos.

Tonights fair entertainment was Tonny Petersen's Hell Drivers.

Our county fair started today and we went down to watch bull riding.  This is my uncle's tractor with the sign I made for him back in April.

I thought this felt Instagrammy.

I haven't touched my dslr in quite awhile and all these cell phone shots tend to make me feel like I'm not trying hard enough but I have to say I really like this one.

I ran a 5K today and it energized me.  I'm ready to do some more hard training and make that final push to prepare for the half marathon.  I have ran fourteen 5K's and today's time of 26:46 is my fourth fastest.   The three faster times were all pre knee surgery so running the fairly fast time today makes me believe that I can get back to where I was and have another chance at getting under 25 minutes. 

Logan's procedure to remove the stint was more involved than we expected because they found one stone that they had missed during surgery.  It had to be removed and he is actually having a harder time recovering from this than the original surgery.  Luckily, it has not affected his ability to lay on the couch and play video games.

Here again is a daily life shot that is not a great photo by any means but does serve to illustrate a story that is a pretty big deal for us right now.  Madison is less than a month away from getting her driver's license and drives on with Nicole or I whenever she can.  Today Logan had to return to Iowa City to have his stint removed and I took Madison to the orthodontist to pick up her retainer.

The first time I tried a 365 project I wanted it to be all about photography and not about my daily life.  I quit before reaching 365 because it is very difficult for me to find the time for "real" photography everyday.  I was successful at a 365 the second time because I allowed myself some daily life snapshots.  This time I've had a few days where I end up with crap like this because I just don't feel like doing anything else.

This photo had a purpose but it wasn't really for this blog.  We have a machine at work whose manufacturer is in Spain.  Because of the language barrier and the time zone difference we communicate by email and photos.  This was a photo to accompany one of those emails. 

So, in the evening I didn't feel like taking a picture for the blog and knew I had this from earlier in the day.  It is what it is I guess.

I'm really behind on posting but I'm still here.

It was Morrison/Fulton day at the Clinton Lumberkings game.  At the plate is Gabby Guerrero, nephew of former major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero.  The Lumberkings beat the Kane County Cougars 11-1.

We went to Wheaton, IL today for Scott Smith's All Animal Expo.  Its called "all animal" but its mostly reptiles.  There are lots of dealers and some people (like this lady) bring their pets.  The kids each have a gecko but we really like looking at the snakes.  Nicole will tell you she doesn't like snakes but just look at the joy on her face.

I picked up a new Hipstamatic film/lens combo.  This is Robusta film and Madalena lens.

I've had a bit of post Bix let down.  Running the Bix is such a thrill for me that running on a road like this is boring in comparison.  I have to remember that it's running these roads that gets me in shape to run a seven mile race.