Neighborhood Flowers

V had a playdate Saturday afternoon and I decided it would be the perfect time to find some flowers for my camera. I asked M and E if they wanted to come with me. Yes, against my better judgement. Only M came and he didn’t try to take me anywhere I hadn’t planned on going. And I had the right lens on (macro, so I could get up close). And it was cloudy but not dark, so perfect, even lighting.

And then, I got super lucky in the post process. I usually seriously struggle with the yellows and oranges but they all came together perfectly. Or maybe I’m just getting better at tweaking colors.

It was actually a great outing. I’m still feeling a little off but, yeah, it was good. It helps that I got a lot of shots I liked. This dog wasn’t happy with me taking pictures of the flowers on his tree (they look like they’re growing on the trunk) but his owner told him off.

When V came home, we went out for dinner. We’ve been struggling with getting her to order for herself at restaurants. I get her anxiety, trust me, I do. And I get that it’s easier to avoid the things that make her anxious. I hate the phone myself. It’s just that she does need to learn to speak for herself when faced with strangers and ordering food is the most basic of those skills. So I told her if she could do it 5 times, we would take her out for one of those monstrously huge shakes from Black Tap. I took the girls there once after a visit at the Tenement museum and she’s wanted to go back since. She earned herself 1.5 points at dinner. The 0.5 is because she ordered her main by pointing at the menu and I specifically told her to speak. And then she got 1 point for speaking up when ordering dessert. I’m hoping that this will get her over her speaking to strangers anxiety. I think we’re off to a good start…