Fall/Halloween Decorations, Pictures, and Updates!

It has been quite a while since I've blogged.  In fact, I haven't been on Facebook about just as long, though Ginger keeps me up to date with any Facebook posts.  I've been extremely busy, with lots of honey-do's and even some projects that have kept me busy.  Tonight I finished the last of a list of items I wanted to get done, it is a good feeling and one I celebrate by blogging!

Where to start. At the beginning of last month I came into the possession of a desktop computer.  It had been abandoned in an apartment, actually one of four, which each went to a different person.  Mine was the only one in pieces.  It was a tower, that had been opened up and there were pieces out.  And I have extensive knowledge of computers and one look inside I knew I had something special.  Kind of like that old car that is sitting on the road and you look underneath the hood and just go wow!  

So when I got it home and started it up, nothing.  I still remember my Dad's words about troubleshooting, start at the power source.  So I took out the power supply, opened it up, and began cleaning it.  Lots of dust, cleaned the circuit board, put it back together, put it in and hit the power button.....and I had power!  This is a performance power supply.  Cleaned the computer up and began placing the new gaming hardware, including video adapter, into the computer I'd found.   I had found a Windows 7 install disk in the apartment (never opened, for new computer installation) and put it on the computer.  All the fans in the computer have blue LED's which makes it look pretty cool.  I invested in a wireless 802.11 USB adapter for it, connected the monitor I had found in the apartment and added it with the new monitor I had just got.  Connecting the High Definition Audio to our stereo system and the sound was amazing.  And so the end result looks something like this:

At night:

The funny thing is, the other three computers, I've worked on them all.  One, a laptop, had to have the hard drive put in and cleaned up.  The other two needed to have the password reset so that they could be used.  That took some time but I know my way around software and hardware.

But computers are not the only thing I've been working on.  With September came Labor Day and with that came Ginger and I's annual fall shopping tradition.  And with that, fall decorating!  Since I know my Mom loves pictures....

Found the pumpkin in an apartment, believe it or not.  It's made of metal and hardened plastic.  I added the lights to get this.

Ginger found this, it was her favorite!  When she saw it, she knew, this is going on the door! 

This is our hutch and Spooky, our beloved resident ghost, has a place now in the dining room with some of his favorite items.  Ginger absolutely loves the orange lights.  Which, I intertwined white and orange lights in the living room to make candy corn lights!  Now you know I had to have some black lights....

Again, in out dining room, a little Spider Venom anyone.....

One of our favorite spots we went to on our shopping trip was Moss.  We love supporting local artists and picked up a neat little candle holder that looked like a cave:

We decided this year we didn't want it to look like Halloween exploded in our living room so we've actually spread things out a bit.

And of course, I love spider webs, so I had to include this on my Halloween blog:

Now that I have the computer the way I want it and can work on multiple screens, which helps me with Photoshop, I'm starting to experiment again with light photography.  Here is an example of one of my first shots using flash and gels.

Again, not trying to clean up the shot, just starting out and having fun with the process.



On a work note, about two weeks ago the paint sprayer at work was starting to act up, going on it's last leg.  I took it home on the long holiday last weekend and began to work on it.  We'd gotten it already quite used.   Three hours, taken apart and cleaned up, and still was having problems with the motor.  So what did I do, I bought a new one because of how important it is for my work.  And I absolutely love it.  And I got to start it out on the biggest apartment we offer, a B4, and it worked like a champ.  Here is a picture of my new sprayer:

So now you have an update on how things have been going on the Peterson front!  On a side note, Ginger is doing really well.  We had a scare this last month with a lump in Ginger's breast but after an ultrasound and mammogram, we received really good news from the doctor.  We will be back at the doctor in 6 months to check the mass.  Keep the prayers coming!  Ginger is, as always, looking lovely as ever and ever the love of my life!  I am so thankful for her and God continues to bless our relationship!  Thank all of you who love us, care for us, and are there for us, we are truly thankful for you!  And I pray it's not this long again till I blog again! 

Baa